Blood Rain
by Shira the Mage
Summary: The tale of Rainkit, and her insane and evil sister Lilykit, as the two grow up and their relationship becomes increasingly complicated; even dangerous as more things come between them. Will Rainkit survive the cat who will become the vicious Lilystar's rise to power? Or is the forest only big enough for one of them? Only rated T cuz of battles, deaths, same as the real books.
1. Prologue

**Blood Rain**

_By: Shira the Mage_

* * *

_**Hi everyone! This is my first fanfic, no flaming please! Constructive criticism is welcome and appreciated. The story may start out a little cliché, but don't worry; it will get crazy! (I hope!) Enjoy! #longestprologueever ;p**_

_**Prologue**_

Lightning arced over the sky as torrents of wind and rain blasted the earth. The lake swelled and churned; colossal waves pounding the shore with crashes drowned out only by the angry rumble of thunder. To be out in this weather was absolutely crazy, so the cats of ThunderClan, WindClan, and RiverClan remained in their respective camps, huddled around each other in their dens for warmth until the storm passed.

The fourth Clan, ShadowClan, however, had a situation to deal with first before thinking of shelter.

As the tempest roared, the cats of ShadowClan sat hunched over in the clearing where they made camp. No one moved, ears flattened against the rain, pelts buffeted by strong gusts of wind, the cats stayed close to each other in small groups. A warrior was in the middle of a life-threatening battle, and as a pained cry was heard over the howling wind, there was no doubt that she was loosing. All eyes squinted through the rain to the clan nursery, where inside, a queen struggled to bring her kits into the world.

Dawnheart lay in a soft nest inside the nursery, claws working in and out, her face twisted in agony as another contraction rippled through her body. Beside her sat the medicine cat, a ginger and white she-cat named Sweetflower, who was trying to stifle her own concern.

"It's alright," Sweetflower soothed, softly resting her paw on Dawnheart's flank when the queen cried out again. Wincing at the false comfort, the medicine cat gritted her teeth in concentration.

Dawnheart had been kitting for most of the day and was utterly exhausted. Sweetflower knew how perilous the situation was, and racked her brain desperately for something to help. She had tried everything, but Dawnheart was getting weaker and weaker, and the first kit had yet to arrive. This was Sweetflower's first emergency since the loss of her apprentice, Maplepaw, who had died a moon earlier of food poisoning from a bad pigeon, and Sweetflower was getting overwhelmed.

Another boom of thunder sounded outside, making Sweetflower flinch.

_What a night for a kitting!_

Dawnheart was an older she-cat; Sweetflower had been wary when Dawnheart and her mate, Mudstripe, announced the pregnancy, knowing that problems were more common in older births. That knowledge, plus the fact that the kits came one moon early, Maplepaw's death and absence, and the awful storm all signaled major trouble to Sweetflower.

_StarClan protect us all- especially Dawnheart, _Sweetflower prayed as the black and white queen shuddered with a large contraction. As it came, she whimpered softly.

Sweetflower snapped back to attention, shaking her head. She pressed down lightly.

"Hang on Dawnheart, here comes the first kit!" Dawnheart gave a shriek as a tiny silver shape slithered out onto the moss. Sweetflower rushed forward and licked the kit clean, while Dawnheart gave a tired sigh and flopped on her side, panting.

"Dawnheart, meet your daughter." Sweetflower looked on fondly as the little she-kit wailed loudly and blindly squirmed toward Dawnheart's belly to feed.

"Are they here yet? I'm sure I heard something! Is everything okay?" Mudstripe burst through the nursery entrance, shaking water droplets in all directions, and cold radiating off his drenched brown tabby pelt. He skidded to a stop upon seeing his mate and new daughter.

"Oh, Dawnheart," he breathed, eyes flooded with emotion. "She's as beautiful as you are."

Dawnheart raised her head weakly.

"Mudstripe-"

A gasp of pain cut Dawnheart off, and her eyes bulged. She began trembling and writhing on the floor. Her silver kit was jostled away from her belly and gave a squeak of protest.

"Dawnheart!" Mudstripe was crouching by his mate's side in an instant. His head swung to face Sweetflower. "What's wrong with her?"

Sweetflower gasped. "Another kit!" She immediately put her paw on Dawnheart, and started feeling. Dawnheart gave a small moan, and strained hard. When nothing happened, she flopped down again, dazed.

"Dawnheart, no! You can't give up now!" Panic seized Sweetflower. If Dawnheart stopped now, she would die along with the unborn kit.

Mudstripe pressed his cheek to Dawnheart's tenderly and murmured, "Please, my love. Do this for our kits. Do this for me." Dawnheart's eyes flashed bright blue and her whole body began to shake. With a yowl that reached for StarClan, Dawnheart gave a massive shove, and the second kit finally slipped out.

"Another she-kit." Sweetflower purred. "You did it, Dawnheart." However, as she turned to the second kit to lick it clean, Sweetflower noticed with alarm that its little white body was remarkably still.

_Is she alive?_ As Sweetflower nosed the kit anxiously, she detected a faint heartbeat.

_Thank StarClan!_

Sweetflower got right to business, pawing phlegm out of the kit's mouth and nose, clearing the airway. She then proceeded to lick the kit the wrong way, and just when she was about to give up hope, the she-kit gave a shudder and Sweetflower saw the flank begin to rise and fall. She gave a sigh of relief as the kit began to wriggle and mewl noisily.

"Blood! Sweetflower, help!"

Sweetflower whirled around in alarm. Mudstripe was staring at Dawnheart in horror, and with a cry of shock, Sweetflower noticed the puddle of blood that was growing rapidly around the queen. She scrambled to Dawnheart's side and sucked in a breath.

_There's too much blood… _

Greif threatened to sweep Sweetflower off her paws. She had saved the kit, but there was no way she could save the mother. A voice inside her head berated her. _She's dying and it's all your fault! What kind of useless excuse for a medicine cat are you? _A paw prodded her sharply, interrupting her self-pity.

"Why are you just standing like that? You have to do something to help Dawnheart!" Mudstripe stood facing her, panic lighting his amber eyes, his claws digging into the ground. Sweetflower bowed her head, forcing herself to say what came next.

"I-I'm sorry, Mudstripe," Sweetflower's voice cracked, but she plowed on, "she's lost too much blood. There's nothing I can do." Mudstripe's eyes widened and he opened his mouth to protest when a voice stopped him.

"Mudstripe, come here." Dawnheart was breathing jagged breaths, and was trying hard to remain conscious.

Sweetflower stroked her side with a paw. "Hush, don't make things worse." Dawnheart shook her head.

"No," She looked past Sweetflower to her two kits, her blue eyes flickering dimly with love.

"Mudstripe, we-we need… to name our kits." She was struggling to breath now, the blood pooling around her. Mudstripe stepped right up to her, ignoring the blood lapping at his paws.

"Of course," he spoke softly, gently touching his nose to her ear, "is there anything in particular you want to call them?"

"I want…her to be named…Lilykit, after my-my mother, Lilypetal." Dawnheart was barely audible now, her eyes starting to fog as she feebly gestured to the white kit with her tail. Mudstripe's eyes were glistening, and choked out, "Lilykit, that's beautiful. What do we call the silver one?" Dawnheart gazed sadly at her beloved mate.

"You choose." she rasped.

"Okay," Mudstripe meowed. "Her name will be Rainkit. It's because it's raining outside, and her silver fur matches the clouds. Is that all right with you?" Dawnheart's response was so quiet that Sweetflower had to strain her ears to hear it.

"It's-it's perfect. I'll…miss them…Lilykit a-and Rainkit."

"Miss them?" Mudstripe echoed "Why? You'll be right here with me to raise them together."

"Lilykit and Rainkit." Dawnheart repeated, closing her eyes with a contented look on her face.

"Yes, Lilykit and Rainkit, _our _kits. We need you to stay with us." Mudstripe pleaded, his voice high-pitched with desperation."

"Lilykit…" Dawnheart whispered, resting her head down and lay still. Mudstripe nudged her side.

"Dawnheart? Please answer me. _Please._" But Dawnheart never spoke again. Sweetflower lightly rested her tail on his shoulder.

"She will watch over us in StarClan now." Sweetflower spoke gently.

Mudstripe let out a moan of grief, and sunk down beside his mate's lifeless body, gathering his kits between them. Sweetflower moved back to give them space.

"StarClan, how did things go so wrong?" Mudstripe cried, his nose pressed into Dawnheart's black and white pelt. Sweetflower looked on. _The second kit, _Sweetflower thought. Lilykit, whose name was on her mother's tongue when she died. Who Sweetflower saved while Dawnheart died. The kit that had almost died herself.

_I was supposed to save Dawnheart, not Lilykit! _The thought struck Sweetflower like a lightning bolt from the storm outside. The early birth, the long, painful delivery, Dawnheart's death, Lilykit's near death, even the raging storm outside all made sense now.

"It's a bad omen. A warning. Lilykit was never supposed to be born." Sweetflower muttered quietly to herself. Not enough, though.

"Excuse me?" Mudstripe had overheard, and had sprang to his paws, amber eyes blazing with anger.

"My mate just bled to death in front of me, my kits are motherless, and now you say my newborn daughter is a _bad omen?_" Mudstripe was quaking now, his voice a mix of grief and fury. "What is wrong with you?"

All the stress, heartache, confusion, and misery of the day, and now getting yowled at caused something in Sweetflower to snap.

"What's wrong with me? I'll tell you!" Sweetflower lashed her tail. "My apprentice is dead, and I'm getting older by the day with no replacement. I spent an entire day trying to help a cat, only to have her die at the last moment. I'm stressed, and now you're yelling at me, so I'm _sorry_ if I'm looking for someone to blame!" Ashamed of her outburst, Sweetflower took a breath and tried to fix things.

"I apologize; that was completely uncalled for. And like I said, I've got a lot weighing on me right now, and I'm a little paranoid. Lilykit is not responsible for anything; she's a kit and I got irrational." The fur on Mudstripe's back settled.

"It's fine," he mewed quietly. "I was a little harsh. You do so much for us all, Sweetflower, so thank you. It's just," Mudstripe paused, mournfully looking at Dawnheart's body.

"I loved her so much. I thought she would always be with me." His head drooped. Sweetflower rested her paw on his in comfort.

"She still is. You just won't see her."

Mudstripe dipped his head in gratitude as Sweetflower retreated out of the nursery, ignoring the mob of cats asking questions, telling the clan Mudstripe would explain, and sinking into her own nest inside the medicine den.

She tried as hard as she could to find sleep, but the nagging guilt from the lie she told Mudstripe kept her awake. No matter what she had said to placate him, Sweetflower had been a medicine cat for seasons, and she knew a sign when she saw one. Her belly churned with worry as she thought of how this new danger could shatter the small peace the clan had. All this just from a tiny kit.

_A kit that never should have been born._


	2. Chapter 1

_**Chapter One**_

"Lilykit, cut it out! That _hurts!_"

Rainkit squirmed in protest, trying to free herself from her sister's rough pin on her back. Lilykit leaned down and hissed in Rainkit's ear.

"Why would I want to loose such a plump, juicy squirrel?"

Rainkit squawked as Lilykit dug her claws hard into her shoulders, knowing she had to do something fast if she didn't want Lilykit taking half her pelt. Suddenly remembering something she overheard Sootpaw complaining about after returning from a ThunderClan border skirmish yesterday, she stopped struggling, letting her sister's weight press her into the dirt, but kept her legs tense and ready. As Lilykit gave a cry of triumph, loosening her grip, Rainkit surged upward, sending Lilykit screeching through the air and landing on her hindquarters with a thud.

"Escaping, eh? You just wait until I get you again!" Lilykit leapt at Rainkit, eyes blazing gold. Rainkit tensed, preparing to be bowled over again, her shoulders still stinging from the previous tussle.

"Hold it right there!"

A tortoiseshell paw flashed out in front of Lilykit, knocking her out of the air.

"Hey!" Lilykit turned angrily, only to stop upon seeing Lilykit and Rainkit's foster mother, Squirrelfoot.

The two had never known their mother, Dawnheart since she had died giving birth, so it was Squirrelfoot who had taken them in and raised along with her own three kits, fed and washed them, and judging from the look on her face, Rainkit guessed, was about to give them a major scolding.

"What in the name of StarClan are you doing that requires so much noise?" Squirrelfoot meowed crossly. "You know the elders get especially cranky without sleep, and Whitewhisker says you two have been keeping him up all morning!" Rainkit shot a glance over at the elders den and saw the old tom glaring at them through the entrance.

"We're sorry, Squirrelfoot. We would never want to disturb the elders. It won't happen again." Lilykit mewed.

"Make sure of it. I-" Squirrelfoot stopped with a gasp, noticing blood on Lilykit's paws.

"How did you…?"

Squirrelfoot's gaze traveled over to Rainkit and her green eyes widened.

"Rainkit, your shoulders!"

Rainkit stared in surprise at the bleeding scratches on her shoulders, not even realizing until then that she was hurt.

Squirrelfoot rounded on Lilykit.

"How did this happen?" she hissed. Lilykit's eyes grew as round and large as the moon.

"I'm sorry!" she wailed. "I was just trying to practice my warrior skills, but I ended up hurting my own sister! I'm such a disaster!"

With that, Lilykit threw herself dramatically on the ground with a sob, covering her head with shaking paws, apparently devastated. However, Rainkit knew Lilykit and wasn't fooled. Squirrelfoot wasn't so keen. Her eyes softened.

"There, there, Lilykit," she murmured comfortingly, licking Lilykit's head. "I'm sure you didn't mean any harm. Just try to be more careful next time."

"I will" Lilykit sniffled, bowing her head. Squirrelfoot turned to Rainkit.

"Now, you go right to Sweetflower and get those scratches treated. After that you should both probably take a nap. I think you have had enough play time."

Both of the kits nodded, and Squirrelfoot gave them each a quick lick and padded back inside the nursery. As soon as the two were alone, Lilykit gave Rainkit a hard shove.

"Why do you have to be so slow and pathetic? You always hurt yourself and get me in trouble!" she snarled. Rainkit bristled

"Oh, so this is my fault, now? Who clawed who?"

Lilykit puffed up her chest. "A _real _warrior is always practicing. Not that you would know that."

"Really? Why don't you be the squirrel this time and I'll show you who's a real warrior!" Rainkit snapped.

"_Please_" Lilykit scoffed. "I could beat you on one foot. The only reason you threw me like that was because you played dirty."

"Played dirty?" Rainkit echoed incredulously. "What do you mean by that?" Lilykit's eyes narrowed.

"Don't lie to me, Rainkit. You know what you did, tricking me into thinking you surrendered like that. It was a foxhearted move and you know it!"

Indignation surged through Rainkit. "It's called _battle strategy_, stupid. ThunderClan warriors use that move."

Lilykit smirked. "Of course! You're not a cheater, you're a second-rate coward who uses tricks, sneakiness, and enemy clan tactics to hide the fact that you're as clumsy and soft as a ThunderClan cat. You better go to live with them, then, since you're obviously just going to be an embarrassment to ShadowClan!"

With that, Lilykit spun around, smacking Rainkit in the face with her fluffy white tail as she stalked toward the nursery. Rainkit's pelt burned in anger.

"Go live with them yourself, dung face!" she yowled after Lilykit, but her sister simply twitched her tail, not even looking back as she vanished through the branches.

Fuming, Rainkit stormed off toward the medicine den, hissing as she stubbed her paw on a sharp stone.

Why did Lilykit have to be so mean?


	3. Chapter 2

_**Chapter Two**_

Rainkit stomped in through the entrance to the medicine den in a rage, still smarting from her stubbed paw, and even more from Lilykit's harsh words.

Her sister had been like this for the four moons they had been alive, and Rainkit was utterly perplexed on why Lilykit's only joy in life was to suck it out of everyone else around her. Around their father, Mudstripe, who would bite off his own tail and give it to Lilykit if she asked, and the rest of the warriors who doted on the motherless kits in pity, Lilykit was sweet, polite, and normal. Secretly, she was at war with the elders, constantly playing pranks, being disrespectful, and mouthing off. The apprentices despised her with her constant getting in the way, know-it-all attitude, and the typical cockiness of a 'paw-to-be. As for the kits, Lilykit was the terror of the nursery, and everyone mainly tried to stay out of her way.

"Great StarClan, how many cloud-brained kits will you send me today?" Sweetflower trotted briskly toward Rainkit, her green eyes flashing with annoyance.

Confused, Rainkit peered around the medicine cat to spot Owlkit and Sandkit, Squirrelfoot's two real sons who were both two moons older than her. Both toms were covered in scratches and had vegetation sticking out of their rumpled pelts. Despite her foul mood, Rainkit had to laugh at how funny they looked.

"Why do you two look like you just lost a fight with a bramble bush?" Rainkit purred, twitching her whiskers in amusement. Sandkit raised his ginger head proudly.

"For your information, we were just off defending ShadowClan; we chased off some nasty rogues who would have probably eaten a kit like you. You're welcome." He mewed loudly.

"Don't listen to this furball," Owlkit spoke, nudging his brother. "Duskkit dared us to try and sneak through the thorn barrier. She said since we'll be apprentices any day now, no one would mind us trying to see the territory." He rolled his eyes, blinking warmly at Rainkit. "You see where that got us." He frowned, licking a scratched paw.

Rainkit wrinkled her nose at the mention of Duskkit, Owlkit and Sandkit's sister. She was almost as mean as Lilykit, and the two often teamed up on the others.

"Bah, you're no fun!" Sandkit swatted his brother's mottled brown ear. Owlkit hissed playfully and jumped on his brother. The two rolled around in a flurry of paws, tails, and dust. Sweetflower gave a sigh of annoyance and marched over, breaking them apart.

"Honestly, you two. How do you expect me to treat you when you're acting like a bunch of scatterbrained chipmunks? Rolling around like that will make your wounds heal less easily." She meowed in exasperation, pawing an already made poultice and pressing it onto Sandkit's scratches.

"Youch! That _stings!_" Sandkit complained, wiggling under Sweetflower's touch. Sweetflower smirked.

"Serves you both right, trying to sneak out of camp like that. If the thorns hadn't caught you, a fox probably would."

"It's Duskkit's fault! She wanted us to get in trouble!" Owlkit protested, wincing as the herbal juices trickled into his cuts. Rainkit huffed.

"That's sisters for you. Just look at what Lilykit did!" Rainkit turned ruefully, showing the claw marks that were still bleeding.

"That she-badger!" Owlkit snorted sympathetically while Sweetflower tut-tutted and turned to find more herbs. Sandkit bristled.

"She drives me crazy! She follows me around everywhere, playing pranks. Did you know she put a fire ant in my pelt a couple of days ago?"

Owlkit chuckled, stopping upon seeing his brother's glare.

"I mean, seriously," Sandkit continued. "Sometimes I wish Lilykit would just fall down a hole- and take Duskkit with her."

"Sandkit! You should never say that! You need to treat your sister with respect!" Sweetflower scolded, cuffing Sandkit over the head.

"Fine, but I can still say that about Lilykit, right?" Sandkit's blue eyes glittered mischievously. Sweetflower shot him a warning look, and started cleaning Rainkit's scratches.

"You two are done now. Go find Squirrelfoot. You're her problem again." The medicine cat signaled toward the entrance with her ears, motioning for the two tomkits to leave. Sandkit scampered out in a flash.

"Bye!"

Owlkit followed, pausing to touch his nose to Rainkit's pelt.

"I hope your scratches heal fast." His eyes flickered with warmth, then he walked out of the den, calling for Sandkit. Rainkit watched him go, a smile on her face but her thoughts troubled.

_Did they really mean all those things they said about Lilykit?_

Sure, Rainkit's sister wasn't very nice, but she was still her sister. Rainkit didn't like other cats saying things about Lilykit, true or not.

"There you go." Sweetflower's voice jostled Rainkit back to reality. "You're all patched up now, and your scratches will heal soon. Just take it easy for today, alright?" Sweetflower paused.

"And-and…good luck with Lilykit." Something flashed across Sweetflower's face.

_Was that fear?_ Rainkit wondered, but just as quickly the medicine cat was back to her usual self, nodding briskly and nudging Rainkit toward the entrance.

"See you later. And stay out of trouble!" Sweetflower grinned, but to Rainkit, it seemed as if Sweetflower was trying to get rid of her.

As she trotted back to the nursery, contemplating the medicine cat's weird behavior, Rainkit could feel Sweetflower's gaze lingering on her, as hot and scorching as the midday sun.


	4. Chapter 3

**_Chapter Three_**

* * *

**Thanks SO MUCH to the five reviewers, it means the world! And whoever's following or liked this story, X's, O's, and cupcakes for you all! :) :)**

Rainkit was running, paws moving so fast, it felt as if she were flying. She was hungry, more hungry than she had been in her life. If she didn't eat, she would die.

The scent of mouse filled her nose, her mouth already salivating at the prospect of fresh-kill. She stopped short, seeing the furry brown creature a few tail-lengths up ahead of her, nibbling on a seed and completely unaware of her presence.

Rainkit crouched down, eyes narrowed, watching as the mouse vanished beneath the tall grass. She sunk into the hunter's crouch, stepping lightly across the forest floor, being careful not to tread on anything that could make a noise.

Upon reaching the grass, Rainkit pinpointed the mouse's location and leapt, only to skid to a halt with a horrified cry.

The mouse lay dead on the ground in front of her. It was sliced open, entrails steaming out of it. Its head was connected to its body only by a few strands of tendons, eyes bloodshot and glassy. Its bottom jaw was ripped off completely with blood gushing out of its mouth, and its brain was visible thanks to a gaping gash in its head.

Bile rising in her throat, Rainkit staggered away from the mutilated corpse, thinking she was going to be sick.

_The warrior code says we have to respect our prey; who would have done this?_

Just as Rainkit's belly finally settled down again, something happened, making her gasp in revulsion and shock, and the contents of her stomach threatened to re-emerge for the second time. The mouse slowly lifted up its gruesome head, training its dead eyes on Rainkit, and _spoke._

_"__You wanted me once," _the mouse rasped in a gravelly voice. Rainkit blinked in confusion.

_"__You wanted me,"_ the mouse repeated. _"You desired me as a tasty meal. Your greatest hope was to catch me. But, alas, your dream was shattered, thrown in your face. You have nothing to eat now. You have nothing. Rainkit, one day you will have your hope shattered again, and you will have nothing again. Someone will take it from you, and you will not see it coming. _Take it back, Rainkit._ Reclaim what is yours. But you must have the patience of a true hunter to chase it. It will not be easy. But you must, or there will be many others who will suffer my fate."_

The mouse's mouth opened, and a wave of blood gushed out of its mouth. But before Rainkit could run to safety, the blood washed over her, filling the clearing and rising rapidly into a raging whirlpool of bright scarlet. Rainkit gave a shriek of terror and tried to swim desperately, but the sticky blood washed over her, getting in her eyes, its stench clogging her nose.

"Help me!" Rainkit yowled desperately. "Anyone, please! I-" she gagged and spluttered as blood got in her mouth. Its acidic salty taste of death burned her mouth and throat, and Rainkit coughed it up only to receive another mouthful.

_Prepare yourself, young kit. Blood is dangerous. Do not forget it._ The mouse's voice rasped in Rainkit's ears as the swirling red submerged her head, throwing her into darkness.

"Blood! Blood!" Rainkit bolted awake, the reek of blood and death still in her glands. Gulping in air desperately, chest heaving, Rainkit looked around wildly.

She was in the nursery, a warm breeze whispering through the entrance, ruffling Rainkit's fur. Soft moonlight filtered through, touching the sleeping pelts of Squirrelfoot and her kits and turning them silver. Rainkit forced herself to breathe normally, gradually calming herself down.

_It was just a dream!_ Rainkit gave a sigh of relief. _Thank StarClan._

"Do you mind? I swear, I'll make you sleep outside if you kick me again!" A groggy mew edged with annoyance sounded next to Rainkit. She turned and saw Lilykit blinking golden eyes sleepily up at her in the nest the sisters shared.

"And what's with all the yowling? Don't tell me you're scared of the dark." Lilykit got up and stretched, yawning as she turned to face her sister.

Rainkit ignored Lilykit's jibe, shaking her head as she meowed "It's nothing. I just had a bad dream, that's all."

Lilykit brightened, suddenly wide-awake.

"Ooh, a bad dream! That must mean something!"

Rainkit narrowed her eyes in suspicion, trying to detect a trace of nastiness or mockery in her sister's voice. But Lilykit seemed genuinely interested, an expression of curiosity on her face.

_Figures, _Rainkit thought to herself. _She gets pleasure out of my nightmares. Well maybe it's time I taught her a lesson. That dream nearly scared the fur right off me; maybe I can frighten Lilykit!_

Rainkit spilled the entire contents of her dream out, embellishing on the gory details, and repeating the mouse's eerie words in her spookiest voice. But at the end, Rainkit was disappointed to see that instead of freaking out like she had hoped, Lilykit only had a look of pity on her face.

"Poor Rainkit, you really must have done something horrible. I mean seriously, why would StarClan curse you like that? And to think," she added, pouting at Rainkit in sympathy. "You don't even know what it means."

Rainkit's insides twisted in fear.

_Relax, mousebrain!_ She scolded herself. _Lilykit's just trying to mess with you; it's what she does. _A shiver traveled down Rainkit's spine. But what if Lilykit wasn't joking?

Rainkit stammered, "Of course I know what it means! Someone's going to take something from me, and I have to take it back from them, that's all. Stop teasing me, this is serious!" Lilykit just shook her head,

"Oh, sister no. What's going to be taken from you is your _life._ Remember the whole 'you'll lose everything' part? When you take it back is by being tortured for eternity to make up for the awful thing you've done or are going to do."

Lilykit paused, and gasped, her eyes widening in excitement. "Oooohhhh, the 'beware blood' bit must be a hint to how long and excruciatingly painful and slow your death will be!" She gave a short _mrrow _of laughter, as if she had been watching something particularly amusing.

Rainkit tried to hide her trembling, panic coursing through her like a raging flood.

"Just be quiet! You're messed up!" Rainkit spat at her sister, rising shakily to her paws. "I'm going outside to think about it by myself." Lilykit snickered.

"A cat who's about to be brutally murdered shouldn't be wandering around alone in the dark!"

Rainkit growled, turning to leave. As she passed through the nursery entrance, she heard a voice drawl,

"Hey, if you die while we're apprentices and I don't like my mentor, can I have yours?"

"Shut up!" Rainkit spat through the entrance. When no retort appeared, Rainkit sighed and settled down outside the nursery, surveying the camp. It looked so peaceful, so quiet. Then all of a sudden, the scent of blood filled her nose.

_Watch out. Watch out for the blood. _

Rainkit sprung up, but just as quickly the scent and voice were gone. She moaned, flopping to the ground, tired of trying to calm herself.

_Am I really going to die?_

* * *

**Hi, sorry it took so long for me to update. Also sorry for a really cheesy/overly gory or just-plain-bad nightmare scene. I'm not that good so I went with what I thought would scare the crap out of an average young kit. (Excluding Lilykit, of course; she's got issues) Speaking of Lilykit, for those that are wondering what Lilykit's deal is, GOOD! _You're _****_supposed to wonder..._ I'm not that good at making mean characters, so I based Lilykit off another nasty sister from a show I like. Don't worry, I come up with everything myself, it's just when I need Lilykit to act extra b****y, I just think "Hmmmm, what would this character do?" Sooooo, ya, expect another post when I come up with something; I'm playing this whole "author" thing by ear. Sorry for the long chapter and extra-long author's note. Byyyyeee.**


	5. Chapter 4

**_Chapter 4_**

Rainkit awoke to a paw prodding her sharply in the side.

"Wh-wha?" she opened her eyes blearily, squinting against the light. A shadow loomed in the middle of her vision.

"Looks like it's not dead! Pity, you looked just like a plump piece of fresh-kill lying there like that. I figured I would try to wake you before deciding to eat you or not." Duskkit's face leered over her.

Rainkit hissed at her, rising onto legs cramped from sleeping on the hard dirt. Duskkit tried to get under her skin all the time, but she mostly never fazed Rainkit._ Mostly._ Rainkit knew Duskkit was just jealous of all the time Rainkit spent with her brothers.

As Rainkit walked towards the fresh-kill pile, Duskkit lagged behind her, stepping on Rainkit's heels. Rainkit gritted her teeth.

"Why don't you go pester Icepaw and Sootpaw? And hey, look! There's Badgerpaw right over there; go annoy him." Duskkit scrambled in front of Rainkit, stopping her. She raised her night-black head proudly.

"Why would I want to bother my fellow apprentices with such kit-like antics? After all, my _ceremony_ is today." Duskkit stared directly at Rainkit, her amber eyes gloating.

Rainkit feigned an expression of nonchalance, moving around Duskkit. Reaching the fresh-kill pile, however, Rainkit plopped herself down with a sigh, nosing halfheartedly through the pile, not really paying attention.

"Someone looks troubled." A voice sounded behind her. Rainkit turned to see her father, Mudstripe.

Rainkit purred and nuzzled against Mudstripe's pelt. To make up for being with out a mother, Mudstripe balanced his regular warrior duties along with daily trips to the nursery to spend time with his daughters. Sometimes, he'd even go in at night and sleep with them. He licked her head.

"So, what's bothering you? Don't bother lying, I know something's up."

Rainkit looked up at her father.

"Do you think I'll ever be an apprentice?" Mudstripe chuckled.

"There's no reason why not. What, feeling impatient?"

Rainkit stomped her paw.

"_Yes!_ Owlkit, Sandkit, and Duskkit are all getting their apprentice names today, and I just can't wait for mine."

_Especially now that my own death is stalking me. I want to have a chance!_ Rainkit added to herself, remembering the events of last night's dream.

Mudstripe touched his nose to her ear.

"You'll get there. You and Lilykit will be the best apprentices and the most courageous and intelligent warriors in ShadowClan history. And I will be so, so proud of you." A distant look grew on Mudstripe's face, eyes pained. "And so will Dawnheart." he added softly.

"Mudstripe! Hunting patrol, let's go!"

Both Rainkit and Mudstripe turned at the voice.

Amberleaf, the ShadowClan deputy stood waiting by the clan entrance with Pebblefur, Specklenose, and her apprentice Badgerpaw. Amberleaf twitched her tail impatiently. Mudstripe glanced at Rainkit apologetically.

"I have to leave now." He pawed a fat squirrel out of the pile. "Go give this to Owlkit, Sandkit, and Duskkit to congratulate them." he mewed. "Even if they start a little earlier, there's no reason to not be friends." With a final yowl from Amberleaf, Mudstripe turned and bounded over to the patrol. Rainkit watched him go.

She found Owlkit, Sandkit, and Duskkit sitting by the apprentice's den, talking. With new hope in her heart, Rainkit grabbed the squirrel and started dragging it in their direction.

* * *

**Hi everyone! Sorry for the super-short chapter, don't ****worry I'll be uploading another one soon! Thank You to any new reviews! Ciao!**


	6. Chapter 5

**_Chapter Five_**

* * *

**Another chapter! Agh, this is crazy, I didn't think anyone would actually LIKE this! Thank you to everyone who has graced my review section with such nice comments! Everyone gets another cupcake!**

* * *

"Heh giihth!" Rainkit mumbled around the squirrel as she awkwardly lugged it toward the others. Great StarClan, that squirrel was heavy! Duskkit smirked in amusement as Rainkit sat down, spitting squirrel fur out of her mouth.

"What? Squirrel caught your tongue?"

Rainkit winced inwardly, while Sandkit groaned and Owlkit lightly cuffed Duskkit for her poor joke. Duskkit sniffed.

"So, I hear you guys are becoming apprentices today?" Rainkit asked between bites as they all settled down to eat, Rainkit and Owlkit on one side, Sandkit and Duskkit on the other, Duskkit far from everyone else.

"We sure are!" Owlkit's green eyes glittered excitedly. Duskkit hissed.

"She only knows because I told her!" Owlkit glared at his sister.

"Don't be such a braggart!" He nudged Rainkit gently. "Thanks for noticing. And for the squirrel." Rainkit suddenly felt shy and shuffled her paws.

"No problem."

"I can't wait!" Sandkit purred, whiskers twitching. "I'm sure due to my advanced talents, Stormstar himself will want to mentor me!" Rainkit stifled a laugh.

"Advanced talents?" she asked.

"Yeah." Sandkit leapt to his paws. "Watch _this!_" Sandkit began leaping around, limbs flailing wildly. He kicked out at imaginary foes, swatted the air, and upon seeing a leaf lying on the ground, Sandkit growled, bushing up his ginger pelt, and leaped. He overshot, missing the leaf completely and face-planted into the dirt. He sat up, rubbing at his nose. "See," he finished lamely. "Advanced talents."

Duskkit and Rainkit shared a look, differences forgotten for the moment, while Owlkit was rolling on the ground laughing. Sandkit snorted indignantly and stalked back over to the group.

An idea appeared in Rainkit's head.

"Hey," she exclaimed, jumping up from the half-eaten squirrel. "Do you think you guys could amuse a lowly kit like me by having one last game? Come on, we can play 'Invasion'!" Duskkit opened her mouth, presumably to call the idea stupid, but Owlkit quickly mewed. "I'm in!" Sandkit nodded in agreement, but Duskkit curled her lip.

"Well I'm not!" Duskkit walked over and sat down to watch. Rainkit flicked her tail dismissively. "It's okay, I'll be the RiverClan leader, Rainstar. I'm going to try to take the camp, and you two have to stop me." The toms agreed. "Okay."

Rainkit glanced over at Duskkit, who gave her a hostile scowl. Rainkit saw a flicker of sadness in Duskkit's eyes, and she felt a pang of sympathy for the edgy black she-cat.

"Are you _sure _you don't want to join us, Duskkit?" Rainkit coaxed. Duskkit narrowed her eyes and looked away, but her ear twitched.

"You can be the ShadowClan leader." Rainkit added temptingly. Duskkit gave a sigh.

"Fine, if you insist on pestering me about it." Rainkit noted, however, that Duskkit's tail curled in happiness as she trotted over.

"Aww, I wanted to be ShadowClan leader!" Sandkit protested.

"It's okay, you can be my loyal RiverClan deputy." Rainkit giggled. "Your name is Sandbeetle!" The other two laughed. Sandkit growled but went over to join Rainkit. Duskkit nodded at Owlkit.

"You'll be Owlpellet!" Everyone laughed at that one, even Owlkit.

"Wait!" Everyone turned to see Lilykit scampering toward them. "I want to play too. I'll be the ShadowClan leader."

"Sorry," Duskkit said. "I'm the leader. But you can be my deputy."

Lilykit glared at her, but sat down next to her. "Fine. My name is Lilythorn."

"What am I, then?" Owlkit asked. Duskkit smirked.

"You're Owlpellet the elder!" Owlkit bristled.

"Hey, but now we're not even!" Sandkit exclaimed. Lilykit settled into a battle crouch.

"What, is RiverClan saying they're too scared to attack without an advantage in numbers?" she taunted. Rainkit tensed, puffing her pelt out and flattening her ears.

"Never!" she yowled. "I, Rainstar, am going to take over your camp with my fish-cat warriors! We will feed you to our evil fish!" Duskkit leapt forward.

"I am Duskstar! You will never take our camp! ShadowClan, attack!" Duskkit jumped right at Rainkit, and the two rolled around. Duskkit tried to use her extra weight to pin Rainkit, but Rainkit was quick. She slipped away, seeing Sandkit out of the corner of her eye fending off Lilykit and Owlkit.

Rainkit aimed a blow at Duskkit's head, but she dodged, rearing up on her hind legs and swiping at Rainkit's face. Rainkit crouched waiting for Duskkit to jump at her again. When Duskkit sprang, Rainkit ran to meet her, knocking the black she-cat out of the air, and leaping on top of her.

"Ready to give up yet?" Rainkit hissed in Duskkit's ear as she pummeled her back with sheathed claws. All of a sudden, paws grabbed Rainkit's shoulders, and yanked her backwards. Rainkit gave a surprised grunt as she hit the ground. She looked up at Lilykit who had her paws on Rainkit's chest.

Rainkit writhed, trying to free herself, but Lilykit held her firm.

"I'll save you!" Rainkit twisted her head as Sandkit galloped over toward them. She gagged as Lilykit put one of her hind paws on Rainkit's neck to keep her from moving, and rose on her hind legs bat at Sandkit. Sandkit reared up too, but failed to see Duskkit creeping up behind her. Duskkit darted forward and nipped Sandkit's tail.

"Ouch!" he squeaked maneuvering to face his sister.

"Rogue warrior attack!" Owlkit cannoned into all of them, sending the kittens toppling.

"How dare you betray us!" Duskkit squawked. Owlkit smirked at her, twitching his tail. Duskkit scrambled to her paws, crouching to attack her brother, when a loud meow interrupted them.

"What are you doing?" Squirrelfoot was racing toward them, green eyes blazing in anger, her mate, Cinderstorm, following with an amused look on his face.

"You three may have forgotten, but your apprentice ceremony is _today_, and will be starting any time from now!" The tortoiseshell queen shrieked. "And just _look_ at your pelts!"

Rainkit stepped forward quickly.

"It was my fault. I started the play fight."

"Yes," Lilykit agreed, glaring accusingly at Rainkit. "Blame Rainkit." "She started it." Duskkit chimed in.

Rainkit growled under her breath.

_Traitors!_

Squirrelfoot gave Rainkit an icy look, then turned her attention back to her kits.

"Never mind now. You need to get yourselves cleaned up before-"

"Let all cats old enough to catch their own prey gather beneath the High Branch for a Clan meeting!" Rainkit turned to see Stormstar standing on the tree, his blue eyes flashing with authority as he looked out over his clan.

"It's too late." Cinderstorm spoke to his mate who was looking as if she was going to faint. "Come on, you three," he nudged his three kits toward where cats were gathering.

Rainkit stopped Lilykit as she tried to follow.

"Stay here!"

"What?"

"We can't go, mousebrain. We need to know how to catch our own prey."

Lilykit scowled. "I could catch something if they let me." But she stayed put.

"I think you two can come for this." The she-cats turned to see Amberleaf, the deputy.

"After all," Amberleaf added, "It'll be your turn next."

Lilykit flashed Rainkit an _I told you so _look, and turned to follow Amberleaf.

Excitement filled Rainkit, and she quickly scampered behind her sister, eager to see what would happen next.

* * *

**Yay! Apprentice ceremony! Sorry this chapter was extra looooong! Sorry if it was boring :p. If anyone is reading this, I need a big favor. If anyone could submit some OC's (personality included) in the reviews, that would be great! I need mentors. I will acknowledge you at the beginning of the chapter in which characters first appear. I'm brain-dead of thinking of names XP. Oh, and I'm trying to add a little romance and make OwlxRain a thing. Problem is, I suck at romance. Is it too obvious, not ****obvious enough? AAAHHH I made my author's note way too long again! Anyway, next update will be coming soon, laterz.**


	7. Chapter 6

**_Chapter Six_**

* * *

**Hhheeeyyyy ppl, sorry it took me so long to update, I was lazy and didn't feel like typing! :D**

* * *

Qjmwb mf44b.5 h24rkp'';;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;; **(Ha-ha, my cat wanted to type! ;p)**

The Clan gathered beneath the giant tree where Stormstar had his den. Above was the branch where he addressed the clan. Rainkit maneuvered through the crowd, settling down next to Amberleaf and Lilykit. She craned her neck, trying to get a better view of what was happening. Stormstar waved his tail commandingly, and the cats below fell silent.

"Cats of ShadowClan!" Stormstar's voice echoed across the clearing. "I am pleased to announce that Cinderstorm and Squirrelfoot's kits have reached six moons, and are ready to start their apprenticeship. Owlkit, Sandkit, and Duskkit, please come forward."

The clan cheered as the three young cats nervously shuffled forward. Stormstar jumped down from the High Branch, and walked up to them.

"Sandkit," he meowed. The ginger tom seemed to shrink in his pelt and his eyes darted around wildly.

_Is he nervous? _Rainkit thought. Sandkit had seemed to be the most self-assured out of his littermates, but looking at him now, Rainkit could tell he was having some doubts. She caught his eye and nodded encouragingly. He straightened up, and moved closer. Stormstar touched her shoulder with his tail.

"Until the day you receive your warrior name," Stormstar continued, "You will be known as Sandpaw. Morningbreeze, you will be mentor to Sandpaw." A dusky brown she-cat with ice-blue eyes stepped out. As the two touched noses, Rainkit saw Sandpaw's blue eyes gleam. Stormstar moved on.

"Duskkit," the ShadowClan leader mewed, resting his tail on her shoulder. The black she-cat quivered in excitement. "Until the day you receive your warrior name, you shall be named Duskpaw. Pebblefur, you have not yet had an apprentice, but I trust you will train Duskpaw well."

_He's going to have his paws full with her! _ Rainkit laughed silently as the pale gray tom stepped forward to touch noses with Duskpaw, a look of pleasant surprise on his face.

"And finally, Owlkit." Stormstar turned to face the mottled brown tom, now standing alone. Owlkit stared evenly at the ShadowClan leader as the grey-and-white tom touched his tail to his shoulder. "Until you become a warrior, you will be called Owlpaw. Your mentor will be Thornfang." As Owlpaw went to touch noses with Thornfang, a huge golden tabby with amber eyes, Rainkit thought he never looked happier.

"Duskpaw! Owlpaw! Sandpaw! Duskpaw! Owlpaw! Sandpaw!" the clan yowled in celebration. Cinderstorm and Squirrelfoot rushed over to their sons and daughter, eyes shining in pride.

"Oh, my precious kits! You are going to be amazing!" Squirrelfoot purred happily, moving to give them affectionate licks.

"Ugh, don't! We're not kits anymore!" Duskpaw complained, ducking away from her mother's tongue. Cinderstorm's eyes softened.

"You'll always be _our _kits." he reminded them. Rainkit dashed up to them.

"Congratulations!" she squealed. "How does it feel?" Owlpaw's green eyes glowed.

"Great!" Owlpaw turned to his mentor, Thornfang, who was approaching with Morningbreeze and Pebblefur. "Are we going on a tour of the territory?" he asked. Pebblefur nodded. "We sure are, as soon as Stormstar ends the meeting."

Stormstar had been watching quietly while the clan was crowding the new apprentices, but now he climbed back onto the branch, and meowed for attention.

"Now that the main purpose of this meeting is over, I want to ask the border patrols for updates." Amberleaf stood up.

"RiverClan hasn't been causing too much trouble, but we have noticed them using the half-bridge for fishing." A cat in the back yowled.

"Those fish-munchers know all the noise they make scares our prey off!" There were grumbles of agreement from the clan, but Stormstar raised his tail for silence.

"I will mention that at the next Gathering. For now, try to warn them off if you see them doing it. What about ThunderClan?" This time, Mudstripe spoke.

"We know they've been giving us trouble lately. And we caught ThunderClan scent markers on our side of the border again while we were hunting. Robinstar is making it pretty clear how badly she wants more territory." he finished, mentioning the ThunderClan leader.

Rainkit's pelt bristled as angry caterwauls split the air.

"Greedy snakes!"

"They need to be taught a lesson!"

"We should attack them now!"

"Enough!" Stormstar roared, blue eyes flickering angrily. "I told Robinstar at the last Gathering, and I will say it again now. ShadowClan will cede no territory to ThunderClan. However, we will _not _fight them. Not yet. The meeting is over"

"He said not _yet_." Lilykit gave a small jump of excitement as the cats dispersed, still agitated. "That means we're still going to fight!"

Rainkit frowned at Lilykit's battle-hunger.

_I hope not! I really do. _

"Dark times are coming." Rainkit whirled around to see Sweetflower sitting behind her, muttering to herself. "This is just the beginning. I only hope not too much blood is shed."

_Blood!_ Rainkit shivered as she remembered her dream. Sweetflower shot Rainkit a worried glance, then quickly padded off to her den. Rainkit was soon alone in the clearing.

_How much does she know? And what does she know? _Rainkit wondered, her heart racing, suddenly frightened of what was yet to come.

* * *

**So, how was it? Did you like it? Good! :D I _might_ be able to post one more chapter before August 2nd, if not, thats when I'm going on vacation for a week, so expect a little wait. Okay, so R&R, don't flame, wait for chapter 7! XOXO, byyyyyeee**


	8. Chapter 7

_Chapter Seven_

* * *

**Yayyyy I managed to get another chapter in! I might do more, idk, but i'm going on vacay for a week starting Aug. 2nd so I don't know how many. Anywho, review when done, I (sadly) don't own warriors, yada yada yada...**

* * *

A moon and a half had passed since Owlpaw, Sandpaw, and Duskpaw had become apprentices. Bluefire, who had her kits the day after the ceremony, was now mother to Grasskit and Redkit. Rainkit was happy that she still had cats to hang out with. Lilykit had snorted, saying,

"Great, just what I need. Now to add to the fact that I am _still _not an apprentice, I'll have little pests following me around, asking to play and wanting to be best friends!" Rainkit scoffed.

"Please. You'll scare these kits so bad they'd prefer sharing a den with a fox rather than you." Lilykit hissed at her littermate, and stalked away to annoy Sandpaw who was eating by the fresh-kill pile. Rainkit curled her lip, and turned back to see Redkit and Grasskit creeping out of the nursery. They had only been out a couple of times, and were still overwhelmed. Rainkit walked over to them.

"Hi!" she mewed, looking at the two kits. "Do you want to play a game?"

"You bet!" Redkit squeaked excitedly, her reddish, fox-colored pelt puffing.

"Can Lilykit play too?" Grasskit asked. For a reason unknown to Rainkit, Grasskit had a fascination with Lilykit.

As Rainkit had predicted, the snowy-white she-cat had been absolutely horrible to the new kits, spitting at them if they spoke to her, lashing out if they got to close on occasion, bossing them around and insulting them. Redkit flinched at the mention of Lilykit's name, but Grasskit constantly followed Rainkit's sister around, chattering non-stop and driving her crazy.

"No," Rainkit shook her head, glancing over at Lilykit, who was talking happily, only to frown when Sandpaw jumped up, muttering a hasty excuse, and fleeing over to talk to his mentor, Morningbreeze.

Grasskit's cream-colored tail drooped, only to perk up again upon remembering the game.

"Do you want to learn how to sneak attack?" she questioned. The kits nodded their heads vigorously, eyes wide as an owl's.

"Okay. Here's what will happen. I'll drag this long blade of grass around and then you-"

"-attack it and practice our moves. We already know that game!" Redkit complained, her yellow eyes flashing. All of a sudden, Rainkit spotted Owlpaw heading toward them, and had an idea.

"Have you ever tried it on something bigger than a blade of grass?" Rainkit whispered mischievously, gesturing toward Owlpaw, who was staring at his feet, and hadn't even noticed them. Grasskit's whiskers twitched in anticipation and opened his mouth to say something when Redkit quickly shoved her tail in his mouth.

"Hush! We have to hide!"

The two kits dove behind a stump as Owlpaw approached.

"Hey there, Rainkit," the mottled brown tom sighed. "I can't believe I-"

"Attack!" Redkit and Grasskit burst out from behind the stump, taking Owlpaw by surprise, and with a strangled cry of protest, collapsed under their weight.

"Ow! Would you just-hey! cut it out-get off, ack, that's my face! okay, claws, claws!" Owlpaw writhed under the two kits that were scrambling all over him letting out shrieks of happiness. Rainkit purred in amusement. Owlpaw let out a groan, and went limp.

"Victory!" Redkit crowed, standing on Owlpaw's head. Grasskit gave a triumphant yowl, and proceeded to sink his teeth into Owlpaw's tail. Owlpaw hissed in pain and annoyance, and rose to his paws, shaking off his assailants. He glared at the kits, licking his ruffled pelt.

"Okay, now that you've had your fun, kindly get out of my fur. I need to clear your smelly bedding, and I don't need you in the way." Rainkit was indignant.

"I do not smell! And I can do my own bedding!" Owlpaw smirked at her.

"Why don't you go to the elder's den? Flamepelt, Hollyfrost, and Whitewhisker might tell you a story if you're well behaved." he told Redkit and Grasskit. Grasskit brightened.

"Alright. Race you, Redkit!" With that he pelted across the clearing. Redkit scampered after her brother, calling "Thanks for teaching us the fun game, Rainkit!" over her shoulder. Owlpaw turned to Rainkit, an accusatory look on his face.

"You set those little fleas on me?"

"What a warrior you'll make if you can't even fend off some angry kits!" Rainkit taunted. Owlpaw stuck his face right up in hers.

"Aren't you a kit too? I don't see you in the apprentice den." he teased. Rainkit collapsed dramatically on her back, waving her paws in the air helplessly.

"Oh dear, you sure are right about that. Us _kits _can't even clear our own moss!" She got up and trotted inside the nursery, Owlpaw following. Rainkit reached Lilykit and her nest, and began kicking at it until the nest was in a million pieces and moss scraps were everywhere. Owlpaw ran forward protesting, nudging her away.

"Mousebrain! Do you have any idea how much more work you just gave me?" he exclaimed. Rainkit blinked at him innocently.

"What? _Me? _But I'm just a useless KIT, remember?"

"I'm sorry," Owlpaw spoke solemnly, bowing his head. All of a sudden, his eyes flashed. He sprang at Rainkit, green eyes blazing.

"But not as sorry as you're going to be!" he growled playfully. Rainkit yelped as he knocked her over, his strong paws pressing on her chest, her back to the ground. She shrieked in laughter as he tickled her, and she squirmed.

"Owlpaw-Owlpaw, _stop it!_ You're horrible!" Owlpaw paused, head cocked to the side.

"Will you help me clear this up?"

"Yes, yes, fine! Just get off me!"

Owlpaw released Rainkit, his whiskers twitching as she sat up, shaking the dirt out of her fur. He looked at her.

"I am sorry for bringing up the whole apprentice thing though. I bet the wait is driving you crazy." Owlpaw apologized.

"It's fine," Rainkit shrugged. "I'm almost there."

"Yeah," Owlpaw nodded. The two sat there for a while, saying nothing. Finally, Owlpaw got up, and began to back out of the entrance. He paused.

"I'm going to get fresh moss, I'll be right back, okay?"

"Sure." Rainkit watched as Owlpaw walked away, not turning when Lilykit padded up to her.

"I can't believe Sandpaw!" Lilykit fumed. "I try to hang out with him, and he ignores me! He's being so unfair; we're almost apprentices, but he still treats me like a kit!" Lilykit dug her claws into the ground, ripping at the dirt. Rainkit narrowed her eyes and looked at her littermate; unable to feel sympathy.

"You two aren't even friends!" Rainkit countered in Sandpaw's defense. Her sister snarled at her, storming by Rainkit to take a nap in the nursery. It was clear that Lilykit really liked Sandpaw, but she was going about things completely wrong. Rainkit sat outside thinking to herself for a while until an angry voice sounded through the den branches.

"Rainkit, you slug! The nest is destroyed!

* * *

**Haha, I'm not the biggest fan of how this chapter turned out, but I can't think of how to fix it. Thanks for reading, hope y'all liked it better than I did. Warriors SuperEdition Bramblestar's Storm comin' out in 27 days! (the 26th o' August!) May update again, EYB EYB EYB! (guess what that is! :D)**


	9. SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT

**Greetings readers! No, this is not a chapter. I just wanted to type this to thank anyone who is reading this sooooooo much. I never thought I would get 10 really nice comments, or any followers, I am so happy! And if ur reading this randomly, or got here by accident, please allow me to to thank you wholeheartedly, it means the universe! I lurv u all, and this crappy, gushy, thank you speech is now over, don't worry! ONWARD HO TO THE STORY! :D :D :D :D :D :D :D **


	10. Chapter 8

_Chapter Eight_

"Rainkit, have you seen Lilykit? She's been hiding from me." Mudstripe looked at Rainkit questioningly.

Rainkit figured she knew why Lilykit was hiding. After what seemed like nine lifetimes, Rainkit and Lilykit were finally ready to become apprentices. Their ceremony was this evening, and it felt like Mudstripe had spent the entire afternoon giving her a thorough grooming.

"Come on, you know Lilykit hates anyone messing with her pelt," Rainkit reminded her father, remembering how her littermate had bolted. Mudstripe snorted.

"Well, she's just going to have to deal with it. White pelts are the worst when it comes to dirt, and no daughter of mine is going to her apprentice ceremony with matted, unruly fur."

"My fur was never matted or unruly!" Rainkit protested, looking at her own silver tabby pelt, now soft and shiny after being licked to perfection. Her father's eyes narrowed.

"Then all the dust and twigs I found on it must have just appeared out of nowhere, yes?"

"I was playing with Grasskit and Redkit this morning!"

"And you got _dirty_. Now please tell me where Lilykit went."

Rainkit sighed, not wanting to disobey her father, but knowing Lilykit would be furious if she found out Rainkit had told on her.

"She snuck out of camp through the dirtplace entrance. She told me not to say anything." Rainkit stared at her paws, ears burning in shame. Mudstripe sucked in a breath.

"And when were you planning to tell anyone about this?" Mudstripe spoke evenly, but the fur on the back of his neck was beginning to rise, and alarm flashed in his amber eyes. Rainkit realized he was trying hard to remain calm.

"She said she would be fine! Lilykit promised she would come back right before the ceremony!" Rainkit mewed urgently, trying to quench her own rising panic.

"I'll see about that." Mudstripe hurried away, walking toward where Stormstar and his mate, Paleflower were sharing a piece of prey. Rainkit saw him meowing quickly, his tail lashing in distress.

"What's going on?" Rainkit turned to see Bluefire behind her, Redkit and Grasskit peering out from under the queen's legs.

"Lilykit left camp!" Rainkit explained. The mottled blue-gray queen's blue eyes widened in horror.

"That's awful!" she exclaimed. "I'm going to help your father look for her if it's all right with him. Watch my kits for me, okay?" Bluefire strode briskly across the clearing where Mudstripe stood along with Amberleaf. Rainkit was relieved to see the tortoiseshell she-cat there; the ShadowClan deputy was one of the Clan's best trackers.

As the search patrol left, Rainkit couldn't shake the nagging feeling in her gut that this was her fault.

_I could have stopped Lilykit from leaving!_

Rainkit had been confident at the time that Lilykit would be perfectly fine.

"I know we're technically still kits, but our ceremony is this evening! I'm just going for a little walk to avoid all the fuss that will be going on. No one is going to mind." Lilykit had assured her when Rainkit had tried to dissuade her sister. When Rainkit still looked unsure, Lilykit had rolled her eyes. "I'll be _fine_."

Now Rainkit wasn't sure of anything. She stared worriedly at the camp entrance.

_Oh, Lilykit! Please be alright! _Rainkit silently begged.

Suddenly, Rainkit heard voices. She pricked her ears. They were heading toward the camp entrance!

_Lilykit!_

She started to race toward the entrance when the smell of blood made Rainkit stop short. As the voices she heard drew nearer, Rainkit detected anxiety and concern along with occasional yowls of dismay. Pawsteps thundered quickly, and Rainkit stood rooted to the ground, unable to move. What had happened? Was Lilykit okay?

As Rainkit's head spun fearfully, a dark shape burst through the entry. That was enough to snap Rainkit out of her stupor. She sprung to her paws, pelt bristling. Was ShadowClan under attack?

As the cat skidded to a halt, Rainkit noticed with a jolt of surprise that it was Duskpaw. The black she cat was panting, with bleeding scratches lacing her body. The fur on her tail had been torn off, and one of her ears had a giant rip. Her pelt was covered in dust, and her amber eyes were wide with fear.

"Help!" she gasped.

* * *

**Oooohhh cliffhanger! What's gonna happen next? Okay, there's some problem with the site, so this doesn't move back to pg. one whenever I update; in fact, it doesn't even say I'm updating! So if you can read this, PPPLLLEEEAAASSSEEEE let me know! And again, I'm always accepting OC's, so, ya. Byyyeee**


	11. Chapter 9

**_Chapter Nine_**

**Hello everyone! Yup, thats right! I'm back from my vacation, and back with another chapter! :D I also have a major sunburn! (ouch) I'll probably be posting again in about a day or two. Soooo, you know the routine, R&R, no flames, yadayadayada. Enjoy!**

* * *

Rainkit rushed forward, coming up to where Duskpaw stood breathing raggedly.

"What happened to you?" Rainkit shrieked, barely aware of other cats coming up behind her, meowing concernedly. Duskpaw shot her a look of distress, for once no contempt in her eyes.

"Don't worry about me, where's Sweetflower?" she panted.

"Right here."

The medicine cat darted out of the crowd, her eyes flashing with concern. She went to Duskpaw, and started sniffing at one of the slashes on her side when Duskpaw jerked back, shaking her head rapidly.

"No! Leave me alone, you have to save him!"

"Save who?" Sweetflower cocked her head, puzzled. "And where's Sandpaw and your mentors? I thought you were training?" Duskpaw started to explain.

"There was this fox, and-"

Just then, Pebblefur and Morningbreeze hurried through the entrance, an unconscious cat slumped over their shoulders, pelt hardly distinguishable beneath all the blood. Rainkit stared at it closely, gasping in horror when she recognized him. It was Sandpaw. Sweetflower inhaled sharply and turned to the nearest cat, Icepaw.

"Icepaw, go into my den and get me cobwebs and some wet moss, and lots of it. Sootpaw, you go too." The two apprentices nodded, and dashed off in the direction of the den. Rainkit's stomach twisted in dismay.

_A fox? _

"Lilykit's out there!" Rainkit wailed. Duskpaw whirled around, her eyes blazing in anger.

"My brother could possibly _die_ right now, and you're worried about your dumb kit sister wandering off? You're stupid!"

Rainkit felt a growl rising in her throat. How dare Duskpaw say she didn't care about Sandpaw? A fox that could wound a battle-trained apprentice that badly could easily eat Lilykit! Rainkit was ready to hurl herself at the black she-cat, injuries and all when a cry split the air.

"My kit!" Cats turned to see Squirrelfoot shove her way to the front, her eyes wide with horror. Cinderstorm followed with a shocked look on his face. Sweetflower turned to block her.

"Don't get too close," she spoke sharply. Cinderstorm opened his mouth to argue but Sweetflower stopped him.

"If you want to help, go get me some horsetail and poppy seeds from my den. You know what they look like."

Sandpaw's parents shared one last anguished look at their son, and turned to run toward the medicine den. Sweetflower watched them go, then turned to Morningbreeze.

"What happened? Duskpaw said something about a fox?" The brown she-cat shot a quick look at her apprentice, now lying on the ground and bleeding profusely from a long gash in his stomach.

"We were practicing battle training, and Pebblefur and I had just finished demonstrating a defensive tactic when the fox appeared out of nowhere. It grabbed Duskpaw, and I jumped on it to make it let go. When it released her, I told the apprentices to climb a tree and stay put. Sandpaw didn't listen." Morningbreeze bowed her head in sorrow.

"And…" Sweetflower prompted, pausing to chew the wad of horsetail Cinderstorm had just placed at her feet. Pebblefur spoke this time.

"The fox grabbed me by the leg," he continued, gesturing at his leg, which was bleeding from puncture marks where Rainkit guessed the fox had bitten him. "Sandpaw…Sandpaw jumped down from the tree branch right on top of it. Morningbreeze and I were able to chase it away, but…" the gray tom broke off, staring at Sandpaw's wound with wide green eyes.

Sweetflower finished dabbing at the wound with the herbs, and started to patch up the blood with the cobwebs.

"Sandpaw will be fine; the slash is long but not deep. He's going to need to stay with me for about three days so I can watch him and make sure that the injury doesn't get infected. Duskpaw, you head to the medicine den so I can check you out. Pebblefur, you too. That bite needs treatment." Sweetflower issued out orders, then turned back to Morningbreeze. "Are you injured badly?" Morningbreeze shook her head.

"No, only a few scratches."

"Good. You can help me carry Sandpaw."

The ginger and white medicine cat slid underneath Sandpaw, and boosted him onto her shoulders. Morningbreeze slipped in next to her, taking some of Sandpaw's weight. Sandpaw's eyes fluttered, and he groaned. Squirrelfoot gasped.

"He's awake!" The tortoiseshell queen padded rapidly after Sweetflower and Morningbreeze. Rainkit watched them go, then turned with a sigh back to the main entrance with a sigh. Was Lilykit alright? A voice sounded behind her.

"You're worried about her."

Rainkit turned to see Stormstar standing behind her, his blue eyes flashing with sympathy. "Don't worry," he assured Rainkit. "I sent out a patrol looking for the fox. It won't get anywhere your sister." Rainkit kneaded the ground with her paws distractedly.

"I should be more concerned about Sandpaw. He's hurt! But Lilykit's my littermate, and I couldn't stand to loose her, and I don't even know where she is! And I let her leave!"

The ShadowClan leader leaned forward and touched Rainkit's ear with his nose, surprising her by the idea that the huge, battle-scarred tom could make a gentle gesture.

"I know what it's like to have a littermate," he mewed quietly. "Your mother, Dawnheart, was my sister."

Rainkit was incredulous. "You're my kin?" she asked. Stormstar nodded.

"Didn't your father tell you that?"

"Mudstripe doesn't like to talk about Dawnheart." Rainkit frowned, trying to recollect all her father had told her. "All that he told us was that she was brave, beautiful, and that she's watching us in StarClan." Stormstar's blue eyes stared off into the distance, remembering his dead littermate.

"She was all those things, and very adventurous. She snuck out of camp _twice _as a kit."

"Really? Did you go with her?" Rainkit inquired, desperate to distract herself from Lilykit, and to know more about her mother. Stormstar's whiskers twitched mischievously.

"Well of course. It was my idea!"

Rainkit purred in amusement.

"Does that mean that if-_when _Lilykit comes back, we can still be apprentices?" She asked, revealing a fear she had been hiding. Stormstar nodded.

"Of course. But she will have to spend her first day in the elder's den, though."

His reassurance comforted Rainkit, only to have her worry over Lilykit squash all other thoughts. Suddenly, Stormstar's ears pricked.

"I hear voices."

Hope fluttered in Rainkit's chest, and she scampered towards the entrance. Joy overcame her as she caught her littermate's scent on the wind. She turned to Stormstar.

"She's back! And the fox didn't get them!" The ShadowClan leader gave her a warm look.

"I knew things would turn out alright. I have to go now, but catch me at a free time, and I can tell you more about your mother if you want." Rainkit nodded her head vigorously. "Yes please!" she breathed. Stormstar turned and walked away while Rainkit turned back to the entrance, running forward the instance her sister's snowy white head emerged through the entryway.

* * *

**Dang it, Lilykit, stop being a pain! Haha, anyway, hope you liked, I really need OC's, so if anyone is reading, submit some warrior OC's if possible w/ descriptions. I will give you credit! K thx, byyyyyeeeee.**


	12. Chapter 10

**_Chapter Ten_**

**Hellooooooo everyone! Another chapter is up and ready to read! I really want to thank Eliana(Guest) for submitting that OC, it really helped me. I hope you like Leafdrop! So anyway ppl, RR, I don't own warriors, yadayadayada. **

* * *

"Lilykit! Lilykit!"

Rainkit raced toward her sister, who was entering through the opening followed by Mudstripe, Amberleaf, Bluefire, as well as Badgerheart, Thornfang, Leafdrop, and Owlpaw. Lilykit scowled.

"Rainkit! Can you please tell everyone that I am _fine_. Everyone's making such a big deal about me going on a walk. Our ceremony is today! I'm almost an apprentice, so why can't I leave?"

Rainkit snorted, all her worry turning to anger now that her sister was safe.

"You left the camp just so you wouldn't have to get your pelt cleaned!" Rainkit hissed in exasperation. "That seems like a pretty kit-like thing to do, if you ask me."

Lilykit spat at Rainkit, only to have Mudstripe come between them, looking down at Lilykit sternly.

"Stormstar wants to talk to you, Lilykit." He meowed. Lilykit raised her head proudly.

"Fine. He'll understand me, I know it." Lilykit marched over to where Stormstar was sitting with his grey and white tail wrapped neatly around his paws. Rainkit watched her go amusedly.

_Good luck with that, Lilykit._

"She actually got pretty far."

Rainkit turned to see Owlpaw beside her.

"Our border patrol caught her up around the ThunderClan border, and we met the search party on the way back to camp." He continued. Rainkit gave a sigh.

"I was just so worried that fox could have attacked her."

Owlpaw's eyes widened in alarm. "Fox? What happened?"

Rainkit's heart lurched.

_Oh no. Sandpaw!_

She stared at the ground, desperately wishing it would open up and swallow her rather than her having to break the news to Owlpaw about his littermate. She looked around desperately for Duskpaw, hoping she could tell her brother instead.

"Rainkit." Owlpaw's tone was sharp. "Tell me. What about a fox?"

Rainkit exhaled slowly, and forced herself to look the brown tom right in the eye while speaking.

"A fox attacked your siblings and their mentors while they were training. Sandpaw was hurt. Bad."

Owlpaw sprung to his feet with a choked cry.

"Sandpaw? Is he in the medicine den?" he asked hoarsely.

Rainkit nodded, and Owlpaw spun around, taking off toward the den and kicking dust up behind him. Rainkit sat by herself, turning at the sound of pawsteps coming up behind her. She smelled Lilykit. The white she-cat sat down next to Rainkit.

"Well, are you ready?"

Rainkit cocked her head. "Huh?"

Lilykit snorted. "Rainkit, get your head out of the clouds. Our apprentice ceremony!"

Rainkit brightened. "Oh, yes! Is it time?"

"Stormstar said any minute now. Mudstripe cleaned my fur." Lilykit added, wrinkling her nose. Suddenly, a sly look came over her face. "I wonder how long you'll last, you know, with that omen of death hanging over you."

Rainkit shuddered, suddenly plunged back into the dream of blood and the mouse's corpse. She opened her mouth to send back a sharp retort, but no sound came out. Lilykit smirked.

"Can't deny the truth any longer? Poor thing, I wish I could help you, but…" Lilykit ended by jerking her head up at the darkening sky as if to say

_The stars decide, not me!_

Rainkit growled under her breath, only to stop upon hearing Stormstar's voice calling the cats to gather. All her anger at Lilykit was swept away by a wave of nerves and excitement.

_It's time!_

Rainkit moved forward to the front of the crowd, Lilykit on her heels. She forced herself to walk slowly and composedly until she was right in front of Stormstar. She felt the eyes of the clan all pointed at her.

"Attention!" Stormstar boomed. "It is time for a very special moment in the lives of two kits in our clan. Lilykit and Rainkit are ready to become apprentices!"

The clan cheered as Stormstar stepped up to Lilykit. The white she-cat was quivering, and Rainkit saw her golden eyes sparkle with anticipation.

"Lilykit," Stormstar began, touching his tail to Lilykit's shoulder. "Until the day you receive your warrior name, you will be known as Lilypaw." Lilypaw shot a quick, almost unnoticeable smirk at Rainkit, obviously gloating that she got her name first. Rainkit was too excited to let it ruffle her fur, and focused on Stormstar.

"Pinetail" he gestured to a mottled silver tom, who stepped forward proudly.

"Lilypaw will be your first apprentice, but you are young and skilled, and will have much to share with her." As mentor and apprentice moved to touch noses, Rainkit thought she saw Lilypaw's gaze darken. Did Lilypaw not like her mentor.

"Rainkit." Hearing her name, Rainkit snapped back to attention. Stormstar loomed over her, resting his tail lightly on her shoulder. "Until you become a warrior, you will called Rainpaw. Leafdrop will be your mentor."

Rainpaw gulped. Leafdrop was one of the senior warriors; what if Rainpaw wasn't good enough for her? But as Rainpaw's new mentor padded up to her, the fiery orange she-cat's pale yellow eyes blinked warmly at her as the two touched noses.

Rainpaw and Leafdrop went to stand beside Lilypaw and Pinetail as the clan called their new names.

"Rainpaw! Lilypaw! Rainpaw! Lilypaw!" Rainkit closed her eyes, letting the voices wash over her, feeling more a member of the clan then ever. She opened her eyes and saw Owlpaw near the front, calling their names happily. His whiskers twitched as he caught Rainpaw's eye, and she felt ready to burst with happiness.

The loudest yowl, however, came from Mudstripe. His head was tipped to the sky as he chanted his daughters' new names.

_He's calling to Dawnheart! _Rainpaw realized, and she hoped with all her heart that her mother was proud of her. She sat down contentedly, feeling as if all was right in the world.

_Finally._

* * *

**YEEESSSSHHHH! Rainpaw's finally an apprentice! It took me forever, but there was so many things I had to do! So, how was it? I hope everyone liked it! Btw, always accepting OC's. Anova (guest), thank you very much for the OC. She might not show up for a couple of chapters, but I know exactly where I want her. Do you mind if I make her a bit younger? So, Idk when the next chapter will be up, but as a hint, I can say that it involves Rainpaw! Haha, bad hint. See y'all later! :D **


	13. Chapter 11

**_Chapter Eleven_**

**Wazzup people? I'm back with another chappie for everyone! This one's kinda long, sorry.**

* * *

Rainpaw was sitting on the ground, the sunlight dappling the forest floor. She was in a grassy clearing, a soft breeze tickling her fur, and stirring the leaves into tiny whirlwinds.

"Rainpaw!"

Rainpaw turned at the sound of voices, turning to see Mudstripe, Owlpaw, Sandpaw, Stormstar, Sweetflower, Leafdrop, and Lilypaw bounding toward her. Rainpaw purred. What better way to spend a lovely day like this than to have cats she cared about with her?

However, as they approached, Rainpaw noted concern and worry on her friends' faces. What was wrong?

"You haven't forgotten, have you?" asked Mudstripe. Rainpaw frowned. Forgotten?

"The blood," Leafdrop urged. "You have to save us all from the blood!"

_The blood!_

Just as realization dawned on Rainpaw, the sky darkened, and the wind began to blow. A familiar, acrid, reek entered Rainpaw's scent glands, and she gagged and staggered.

Blood rushed over the edges of the grassy hollow, appearing out of nowhere like a flash of lightning. Rainpaw saw the scarlet wave sweep her clanmates off their feet, and they were washed away with gut-wrenching wails.

Rainpaw gave a horrified yowl, and squeezed her eyes shut, digging her claws into the hard dirt, waiting to be carried off by the red tides. Instead, the moment the blood reached her, it parted, swishing around her on both sides. Rainpaw was stranded on a small island in a lake of death.

All of a sudden, a flash of white caught Rainpaw's eye. She squinted through the turmoil of blood and debris to see Lilypaw standing on a patch of dirt just like Rainpaw's. Lilypaw's fur was rippling in the wind, her golden eyes trained on Rainpaw.

Rainpaw gasped out.

"Lilypaw! Help me!"

But her littermate simply gave her a blank stare, and opened her mouth.

_Beware blood, Rainpaw. Beware blood. _

The voice came out as the voice of the undead mouse. With that, Lilypaw sprang at Rainpaw, claws outstretched, her teeth bared in a snarl. Horror coursed through Rainpaw.

"No!"

* * *

"Rainpaw! Rainpaw, wake up, you stupid dormouse!"

Rainpaw's eyes flew open. She was in her new nest in the apprentices' den, and standing above her were Sootpaw, Icepaw, Owlpaw, and lastly, Lilypaw, who had been prodding Rainpaw's shoulder.

Rainpaw shrieked at the sight of her sister, and scrambled to her paws, racing to the other side of the den, nearly tripping over a snoring Duskpaw, who was still sleeping. She lowered herself into a defensive crouch, eying the other apprentices warily.

Lilypaw's eyes narrowed. "Rainpaw, what's gotten into you? Have you gone mad?"

Rainpaw trembled. "You tried to kill me!" She spat at Lilypaw.

Lilypaw squinted in confusion. "Huh?"

"It's okay," Owlpaw soothed, moving slowly toward Rainpaw. "You were just having a nightmare. Lilypaw would never do that; you were crying out in your sleep so she woke you up."

"You're right," Rainpaw muttered, embarrassment warming her ears. "Just a bad dream. I'm sorry, Lilypaw, I don't know what came over me." She walked over and licked Lilypaw's ear. Lilypaw gave a disgruntled snort.

"You should be. Honestly, Rainpaw, I'm your sister, why would I hurt you?"

Rainpaw shrugged as Sootpaw suddenly spoke up.

"So, do you start yowling out 'Blood! Blood!' very often, Rainpaw?"

"Sootpaw!" Icepaw scolded, cuffing her brother over the ear. "She's frightened, and I would be too if you suddenly decided to attack me in a dream!"

"I wouldn't do that unless you pulled another one of your silly pranks on me!" Sootpaw grumbled, but gave his sister a warmhearted nudge. "Now if you all don't mind, I shall now take after our good friend, Duskpaw the dormouse, and return to my beauty sleep."

"Yeah, Sootpaw, because the only time you're pretty is in your dreams!" Owlpaw teased, earning _mrrows _of laughter from everyone except Sootpaw who gave a disdainful sniff, and plopped himself down in his nest, and promptly began to snore. Icepaw rolled her eyes.

"Don't mind Sootpaw, he likes to joke around. He's glad he has more cats to prank after Badgerheart moved to the warriors den."

"Is that why you prank him back?" Owlpaw inquired. Icepaw purred.

"Now you get it!"

Suddenly feeling tired, and now assured that the dream wouldn't return, Rainpaw sank back down into her nest, ignoring Icepaw and Owlpaw's chattering. She curled herself into a ball, and closed her eyes. Suddenly, she felt Lilypaw's warm breath on her ear.

"I won't need to hurt you, because now that another omen has come, you're sure to die soon without any help from me." her littermate whispered darkly.

The fur on Rainpaw's spine prickled with unease, and she drifted of into sleep less assured than before.

* * *

**Yay! Another stupid dream scene fron the dumb authoress! So, you guys know what to do, so, ya, bye!**


	14. Chapter 12

**_Chapter Twelve_**

**Hi people! I'm super sorry I haven't updated for a week! Yell at me if you want. Sienablaze88, two of your OC's will be mentioned briefly in this chapter, but they will have a bigger role later, as well as the third one. So anyway guys, tell me if you like, tell me if I wasn't descriptive enough, PLEASE CRITIQUE ME! I DON'T KNOW WHAT I'M DOING! Sorry, I'm new to this. Let the reading start!**

* * *

Rainpaw opened her eyes. The soft light of dawn greeted her as she stretched and poked her head out of the apprentices den. Most of the clan wasn't up yet, but the dawn patrol was leaving, led by Mudstripe, who blinked warmly at Rainpaw before heading out, followed by Dawnblaze, her daughter, Cherryblaze, and finally, Cinderstorm.

"Rainpaw! You're up!"

Rainpaw looked over to see Leafdrop padding briskly toward her, followed by Pinetail. Her mentor looked down at her.

"Well? Go grab yourself something to eat, quickly now. We don't have all day to tour the territory, do we?"

_We're touring the territory!_

Excitement fluttered in Rainpaw's chest.

"Shall I wake Lilypaw up first?"

Pinetail nodded. "Yes, although she won't be pleased about having to spend her first day collecting moss and serving the elders."

Rainpaw nodded and slipped back into the den. She maneuvered around the sleeping forms of the other apprentices until she reached her littermate's snow-white pelt.

"Lilypaw, Lilypaw, come on. You need to get up." Rainpaw whispered, poking at her sister's face with a leaf. Lilypaw's eyes fluttered, and she groaned, swatting at the air.

"Ugh, Rainpaw, you already woke me up once, I- are you poking me with a _leaf_?"

Rainpaw blinked. "Sort of?"

Lilypaw hissed and bit at the leaf. Rainpaw jerked her paw back as her sister's jaws snapped at her toes. "Hey!"

Lilypaw smirked and rose to her feet, stretching luxuriously.

"Pinetail told me to wake you. You have to take care of the elders today, don't you?" Rainpaw told Lilypaw, who wrinkled her nose and began licking her paw and drawing it over her ear.

"Yeah, yeah. Tell them I'll be out in a moment."

Rainpaw returned outside, informing Pinetail that Lilypaw would be along in a bit. She then trotted over to the fresh-kill pile, licking her lips at the sight of a frog on top. Frog was Rainpaw's favorite food, and Lilypaw found them repulsive. Rainpaw laughed, remembering Lilypaw's distaste.

_She's the ThunderClan cat, not me!_

"Let's go, Rainpaw, we don't have all day." Leafdrop mewed, her yellow eyes flashing. Rainpaw dipped her head respectfully, gulping the last of her frog, and jumping to her feet. She was finally going outside of camp!

Leafdrop lead her outside of the brambles that marked the camp barrier, and Rainpaw followed. She paused to lap at the small pool beside the trail. As Rainpaw leaned down, she paused to look at her reflection.

A light silver tabby she-cat stared back at her, forest-green eyes glimmering in a steady gaze. The she-cat's expression warmed, and Rainpaw found herself purring. She didn't look like a kit anymore!

"Rainpaw, move it!" Leafdrop's annoyed mew knocked Rainpaw back into reality, and she scampered toward her mentor, determined not to fall behind again.

As the pair walked through the forest, the sweet scent of the pines flooded Rainpaw's scent glands. She stared up at the trees whose tips seemed to vanish into the non-visible clouds. Pale gold sunlight filtered through the needles, casting drastic contrasts between light and dark on the marshy ground below. Rainpaw's pads sunk into the moist, squishy soil, the orange, dead needles tickling against her paws. Small, twisted and withered shrubs peeped through the piles of needles, hardly able to grow thanks to the colossal fir trees obscuring all but a few of the sun's rays, cloaking the rest of the landscape in shadows.

Rainpaw's head reeled, brain trying to process all the new sights and smells. Leafdrop lead her along, pausing to point out a certain shrub or fungi that was good for finding prey, the tree with the owl's nest, and a bush with blood-red berries. Leafdrop spoke in a grave voice. "These are called yew, or deathberries, Rainpaw. If eaten, they are fatal. Not that I would expect you to eat a berry, but still. Remember this."

Rainpaw nodded, making sure to study the berries closely so she would know to stay away from them in the future.

They continued on, until Leafdrop halted a few paces away from some tall, pointed sticks lined all in a row. Behind that, Rainpaw could make out a structure so bizarre, it almost seemed unreal, but from the elders' tales Rainpaw thought she knew what it was.

"Is that a twoleg nest?" she inquired.

"It is. Now tell me, what do you smell?" Leafdrop stared at Rainpaw expectantly. Rainpaw gulped, uncertain when being put on the spot.

"Uhhhh, I smell the pine forest, and the soil, and…. Scents kind of like fresh-kill but, stronger, which I guess is the live prey. And-and _cats_! Ugh, but really smelly cats! Do they bathe themselves? They're definitely not ShadowClan and-wait! Are they the two kittypets the elders talk about? The ones that have their own mini-territory outside their twoleg nest, and that attack and kill ShadowClan cats and kits?"

Leafdrop shot a quick glance over at the nest.

"Yes, those scents are the kittypets you've heard of. But they've only attacked us a few times, and we've generally taught them to stay off our territory. However, those line of sticks is called a fence, and twolegs put it there to mark the end of the kittypet and twoleg territory. Where we're standing right here is as far as Stormstar wants cats going, though. As you can clearly smell, the kittypets mark their boundaries too."

Rainpaw wrinkled her nose at the stench as her mentor continued.

"Can you smell the twoleg?" Leafdrop asked.

Rainpaw breathed in hard, focusing best she could while trying to ignore the putrid reek of the kittypets. Faintly, she caught something. A scent she had never smelled before. It was the most peculiar smell she had ever came across. It was harsh, foreign, and just unnatural! When Rainpaw described it to Leafdrop, the dark ginger she-cat laughed.

"Oh, you smell the twoleg, alright. You're going to see twolegs in some of the other places I show you, though. So make sure you remember this scent too."

Rainpaw stopped to make sure she had committed the odd scent to memory.

"Are you ready to move on?" Leafdrop looked at Rainpaw.

"Yes."

"Good then. Let's continue."

Leafdrop started to walk away, beckoning Rainpaw with her tail. Rainpaw took one last look at the twoleg nest, then turned to follow her mentor through the forest.

* * *

**Soooooo, how was it? Firerose, thank you very much for the OC. I can give her a big part, but only if you're ok if she comes in late in the book cuz I have a big role later on. Anova, your character won't be forgotten either. Ok, I still need OC's, but I jut need a name and a physical description. To the four glorious people who have given me OC's ****already, I will not kill them off, and I will make their personalities as correct as I can, and I won't kill them. To everyone else, let me say it now. I may kill off the OC's you give me, and I want to create the personality. I just need a name and physical description for minor characters. I'm running seriously low. But thats it. Ok, now that I stopped being obnoxious, let me say that I will only update about once a week. I need to spend time with my family, and once school starts in 2 weeks (WAAAAHHHHH) well, I'm gonna have a buttload of homework and I suck at time management, so my parents have made it clear. Schoolwork before writing. I'll still update regularly, it just won't be daily or anything like that. Soooo, yeah, but please tell me I'm not going to be the only one spending less time on fan fiction once the school year starts! D: So, now that I'm finished, megalong A.N. DONE!**


	15. Chapter 13

_**Chapter Thirteen**_

**Hello everyone! I'm baaaaaccccckkkkkk! Sorry, but Rainpaw's tour of the territory was taking a while, so I divided it into two chapters. Sorrrreeee! Tigergirl319, thank you very much for so many of your kind comments. And don't worry, we'll meet Dawnheart at some point! ;). OH NOOOO! I'VE SAID TOO MUCH! AAAAAAAAAAGGGHHHHHHH! Ok, dumb authoress is shutting up now... Enjoy the reading! :) **

* * *

Leafdrop was walking quickly through the forest now, and Rainpaw found herself increasing her speed to keep up with the dark ginger she-cat. Suddenly, Rainpaw caught the scent of water. She stretched her neck out and inhaled deeper than before. Yes, she definitely smelled water, and a lot if it. Her mentor looked at her, amused.

"You can smell the lake by now, can't you?" Leafdrop observed.

Rainpaw nodded. She couldn't wait to get a look at the massive body of water the cats talked about. Noticing a break in the trees up ahead, Rainpaw quickened her pace even more than before.

Once she emerged from the pines, Rainpaw's eyes water and she squeezed them shut. She had grown used to the cool darkness under the pines and she felt exposed and vulnerable out in plain sight. As she regained her bearings, Rainpaw surveyed the surrounding area, and froze with a shocked gasp.

Straight ahead of her was the most water Rainpaw had ever seen. It stretched out in front of her for countless lengths, a smooth, glassy, shimmering silvery blue surface. The wind sang as it glided across the water's surface, and the waves whispered softly as they lapped at the wet, sandy shore.

_The lake!_

As Rainpaw's mind worked to take it all in, she peered curiously at the land surrounding the lake. Looking to her left down the shoreline, Rainpaw could see the thick, bushy pines where ShadowClan made their home. Stretching her vision further, Rainpaw made out what appeared to be more forest, but not one Rainpaw had ever seen. She blinked and looked closer to make sure she wasn't imagining things. No, she was right.

_The trees were orange!_

And not just orange. Rainpaw thought she detected some reds and yellows as well. Was that forest on fire? Rainpaw paused and shook her head. No, fires were supposed to glow, Rainpaw had heard about them. She thought harder.

_Wait, don't ThunderClan cats live in a forest territory too? And it's supposed to be right next to us. That's got to be where they live! Weird creatures, living in an orange forest; no wonder they want our territory! They want normal trees. _Rainpaw thought to herself.

Continuing her survey of the lake, Rainpaw moved passed the strange orange trees to another landscape completely different from her own. This part of the lake had land that rose and fell like waves on the lake, and seemed to be devoid of any sort of tree, green or orange. Rainpaw figured that was WindClan territory, having heard how the swift clan if the rabbit hunters raced across rolling, grassy hills, and how they hated the forest.

Having, viewed almost the whole lake, Rainpaw turned to view the land to her right, and sat up short in surprise. How had she missed this?

"Now this is one of the areas I mentioned before that twolegs come to."

Leafdrop was standing in front of what seemed like a line of hard rock that stretched away into the distance. Rainpaw gagged out loud at the reek; it was worse than those kittypets! It was harsh, and had the same alien scent as the smell of twoleg, which Rainpaw could also faintly detect beneath the fumes.

"This is a miniature Thunderpath.". Leafdrop spoke with disgust.

"You've heard about them and the monsters that move along on them and carry twolegs in their stomachs. I honestly can't describe a monster, but you'll see your share of them come greenleaf."

Rainpaw cocked her head.

"Why do they only come in greenleaf?"

Leafdrop turned her yellow gaze past the Thunderpath.

"They come for that." she mewed.

Rainpaw looked to see another extremely strange object. It appeared to be made of wood like the twoleg fence, but it jutted out a few paces over the water.

"That's a halfbridge. Twolegs like water so they come during late newleaf and greenleaf to catch fish and to jump off it and go swimming." Leafdrop explained.

"They like to fish and swim like RiverClan?"

"Apparently. Sometimes they go out into the middle of the lake in giant wooden things that look like overturned leaves. I guess they can't swim that far. They call the things 'boats' and either they roar around really loudly and quickly and scare off the prey, or they go slow using sticks to move or white wings."

"They fly?"

"No, the wind hits the wings and helps them move around. Either way, they're insufferably noisy, and make hunting difficult. Twolegs are a nuisance, but luckily, they shouldn't come around in leaf-fall, when we need all the prey we can get."

Rainpaw detected annoyance and dislike in her mentor's tone as she spoke. Twolegs must be awful!

Wanting to get a closer peek at the "halfbridge", Rainpaw started to step onto the Thunderpath, only to have teeth bite at her tail and yank her back.

"No!" Leafdrop hissed, her tail lashing. "I should have mentioned this before, but this is the RiverClan border! Tensions are high right now, and the last thing ShadowClan needs right now is those fish-faces declaring war because a new apprentice crossed the scentline!"

Rainpaw stepped back, ashamed, and slightly frightened at her mentor's fury.

"Sorry," she mumbled awkwardly. She sniffed at the air, detecting a musky, sourish, stink interlined with cat-scent. She wrinkled her nose.

"Is that their smell?"

Leafdrop's hackles lowered.

"Yes, that's them. You can smell the fish on them that make their scent so different than other cats. Can you tell when their last patrol came by?"

Rainpaw thought hard, unnerved by being put on the spot again.

"Well, the scent is pretty faint, they weren't here recently." Rainpaw paused. "Hey, if their patrols run the same way ours do, they might be around any moment. It's almost sunhigh."

Leafdrop purred, obviously pleased with her apprentice's response.

"Very good! And you are right about them coming soon. We should get going, I don't want a patrol giving us trouble. We're on our side of the border, but like I said before, both Clans are touchy right now and we don't need any more discontent."

Leafdrop turned and began to pad back toward the forest.

"Come on! I still have things to show you!" she called over her shoulder. Rainpaw nodded eagerly and walked rapidly until she was right behind her mentor.

* * *

Rainpaw and Leafdrop moved back through the forest, Leafdrop meowing about things Rainpaw had to learn. Rainpaw tried her best to listen attentively despite the fact that hunger was eating her insides apart.

"Rainpaw! I know this is a lot to take in, but I need you focused." Leafdrop chided.

Rainpaw opened her mouth to reply, when her belly gave an enormous rumble.

Leafdrop's whiskers twitched in amusement.

"I know, I know. I could go for a mouse myself right now, but there's still a few things we need to see first."

Rainpaw dipped her head, then stood as straight as she could, determined to stay on task. They reached a stream, and Leafdrop didn't hesitate to jump right in and wade straight across.

"It's not deep, you can touch." she called.

Rainpaw steadied herself, bracing for the harsh bite of the frigid stream. She took a breath and leapt in, moving as quickly as she could. She hopped out the other side, feeling chilled to the bone and gave her pelt a few quick strokes with her tongue before continuing on.

"Now this," Leafdrop announced. "is the ThunderClan border." They stood near the stream, and Rainpaw again saw the peculiar orange trees, which had leaves instead of needles.

A musty smell of deep soil, leaves, undergrowth, and stone hit Rainpaw's scent glands. It wasn't the most revolting smell she had come across, but it had none of the familiar warmth and cozy smells of ShadowClan.

Leafdrop and Rainpaw headed upstream, until Leafdrop stopped short, her nose in the air. Rainpaw halted, sniffing as well and wondering what Leafdrop had picked up on.

Her curiosity changed to concern as Leafdrop's dark ginger fur began to bristle and her eyes widened with shock. Rainpaw trembled, becoming afraid. What was wrong?

"Oh, no." Leafdrop whispered. She turned her yellow gaze on Rainpaw.

"I want you to follow me, alright? But if I say to run, _run_." Rainpaw's mentor commanded. With that, Leafdrop took off, running at full speed. Rainpaw teared after her, muscles yowling in protest after walking for so long, and tried hard to keep up.

All the while, her head was spinning. What was going on?

As they raced along, Rainpaw noticed they were making a steady line along the border. Suddenly, the scent of ThunderClan grew stronger, and a scent Rainpaw knew well hit her nose. The smell of her nightmares. The smell of blood.

Rainpaw's heart lurched as the scents grew stronger. ThunderClan and blood. Was there going to be a fight? But Rainpaw wasn't trained; she would be killed!

Though fear clutched her tightly, and her paws were begging to turn and flee, Rainpaw forced herself to carry on, keeping her eyes firmly on Leafdrop's dark ginger pelt in front of her.

Suddenly, Leafdrop skidded to a halt with a shocked cry. Rainpaw crashed into her from behind, but her mentor dudn't seem to notice.

Ahead of her was a grassy, sunlit clearing. Rainpaw would have called it pretty, if not for the ripped up ground, patches of cat fur everywhere, and dark red stains in the grass that Rainpaw recognized all to well. The entire area was drenched in ThunderClan scent, but under the overpowering smell, Rainpaw caught the scent of this morning's dawn patrol.

_Including her father's._

The world spun around Rainpaw as she imagined her father hurt or worse, but Leafdrop's voice brought her out of her thoughts.

"We're going back to camp. Now."

With that, Rainpaw's mentor shot out of the clearing, Rainpaw hot on her heels as the two made their desperate dash home.

* * *

**Phew! It's hard typing an entire chapter on an iPod Touch! Anyway, enjoy the cliffie, R&R, you get it. Still need OC's, but you now know the rules. OMG! O.M.G. BRAMBLESTAR'S STORM COMIN' OUT IN LESS THAN A WEEK! It's on pre-order on my nook and I CAN'T WAIT to read it! Tell me what you think is going to happen! Tootles!**


	16. Chapter 14

**_Chapter Fourteen_**

**Sorry for the delay guys! And for the cliffhanger... But anyway, here's the rest!**

* * *

Rainpaw's legs felt as if they were on fire, and pain racked her cheat as she struggled to gulp in air while trying to stay at a full-out sprint. She had never ran this fast or this far, and after a day of walking, Rainpaw felt that under other circumstances, she might have collapsed by now.

However, these were not normal circumstances. Fear and adrenaline gave Rainpaw the strength she needed to continue the frantic dash with her mentor, Leafdrop back to camp.

As she careened through the forest, her mind whirled as her brain feverishly conjured up scenarios and ideas. Was the camp already under attack? Was the fight by the border fatal? Was Mudstripe alright? Would there even be a camp to return to?

Rainpaw doubted that with the condition her mind was in, she would have even found her way back to the camp by herself. She thanked StarClan she had Leafdrop with her. Her mentor didn't even seem tired, and her yellow eyes blazed with determination to return home.

After what seemed like nine lifetimes, Rainpaw and Leafdrop finally approached the ShadowClan camp. Rainpaw strained her hearing, but she couldn't detect any yowls or screeches of battling cats, nor could she taste any enemy scents on the wind. However, upon approaching the entrance, an icy trickle of fear slithered down Rainpaw's spine upon seeing the bloodstains as if some cat had to be dragged through the entrance.

Leafdrop shot through the entrance, followed closely by Rainpaw, calling out their arrival, only to stop short upon seeing the sight in front of them.

In the middle of the camp was this morning's dawn patrol. Sweetflower darted to and fro, dabbing at a wound here, patching a gash there. Rainpaw let out an exhale of relief upon seeing Mudstripe sitting, wincing as Lilypaw not so gently tried to help by prodding at his many scratches with a patch of dry moss, her gold eyes darkened with fury.

When her father saw her, Mudstripe called out.

"Hey! I'm glad you're alright. We were patrolling the ThunderClan border, and we found a patrol trying to set scent markers on our side of the grassy clearing. We tried to warn them off, but.." He ended with a rueful glare at a bleeding forepaw.

Rainpaw shot her father a sympathetic look, then turned her gaze to the rest of the patrol and sucked in a shocked breath.

Sweetflower was currently crouching beside Dawnblaze, treating an awful chest wound. Cherryblaze was by her side, licking her mother's cheek anxiously, her blue eyes flashing in worry. The older she-cat was struggling to sit up, protesting as Sweetflower put a paw on her flank to gently keep her held down.

"Will you kindly let me be?" Dawnblaze hissed in annoyance as Sweetflower applied poultice to her wound. "I'm perfectly fine, you need to go treat the other cats who were injured. I just need a little rest."

"Hush!" Cherryblaze snapped, although affection glimmered in her gaze. "Any cat with eyes could see that your wound won't just go away. It needs treatment, so I suggest you be quiet and let Sweetflower do her job."

Sweetflower dipped her head to the fiery cream-furred she-cat.

"Thank you Cherryblaze," she purred before turning to Dawnblaze. "There you go Dawnblaze. You'll need to rest for a couple of days, but after that you'll have no trouble keeping up with patrols."

Dawnblaze shook her head. "Oh no I'm not! I've had a feeling lately that my skills aren't what they used to be, and this skirmish proved it. I could have easily blocked the warrior who attacked me, but I was too slow. I'm no use to the clan anymore, just a waste of herbs meant for more deserving cats."

"No!" Cherryblaze protested, but Dawnblaze waved her tail derisively.

"Don't deny the truth, Cherryblaze. You and Moonshadow have been telling me I shoud retire for the past few moons. As soon as I'm healed, I plan to tell Stormstar that I'm moving to the elders' den."

"You have my respect, Dawnblaze. You have served this clan well for many moons; you deserve rest." Sweetflower mewed, touching her nose to the old warrior's ginger pelt.

_Sweetflower isn't exactly young and spry herself. ShadowClan needs a medicine cat, shouldn't Sweetflower start thinking about training an apprentice? _Rainpaw wondered to herself, noting the medicine cat's silver-dusted muzzle.

"Sweetflower?" Rainpaw piped up. "When you're done, do you think you could go check out Mudstripe? Before my sister kills him, please."

Rainpaw gestured with her tail over to where Mudstripe was trying to persuade his white-pelted daughter that although her 'help' was much appreciated, he was sure Sweetflower would be able to look after him just fine.

Sweetflower let out a low growl and sprinted over to the cause of her annoyance, yowling,

"Great StarClan, Lilypaw! You get away from that poor tom right now! I have way too much to do without having to worry about dealing with the results of whatever new havoc you've caused!"

Rainpaw saw Lilypaw's pelt puff up in indignation.

_Uh oh._

"Well excuse me if you're upset that you need other cats to do your job for you!" Lilypaw spat. "I like my father better with the blood inside him, not running freely because you aren't paying attention!"

Sweetflower's eyes blazed pale green fire, and her tail bushed to twice its size.

"You insolent little wretch!" she snarled, now nose-to-nose with Rainpaw's littermate. "You have no idea-"

"Okay." Mudstripe quickly pushed his way between the two furious she-cats, his amber eyes flickering warily.

"Lilypaw, that is no way to speak to a medicine cat. You must treat her with respect. I want you to apologize right now, then go straight back to cleaning the elders' den like you were told."

Lilypaw glared at her paws. "Fine," she grumbled. "I'm sorry for being rude. Now if you excuse me, I have ticks to find."

She whirled around and flounced off to the elders' den, her plumy tail lashing. When Lilypaw was out of earshot, however, Mudstripe turned to Sweetflower with an accusatory look.

"You shouldn't have been so hard on her though. Lilypaw was simply trying to help, and you just came storming over here. You know she's sensitive!"

_Sensitive? Ha! _Rainpaw thought, but kept quiet and continued watching.

"I spoke the truth." Sweetflower's mew was quiet but firm. "Lilypaw is not a cat who thinks things through. That dirty old moss she was using could have easily started an infection, and we wouldn't want that."

"Is that really all this is about? An infection and a piece of moss?" Mudstripe's tone had a hint of warning in it, and when the two cats stared at each other, Rainpaw could almost reach out and touch the tension that was being emitted. What had happened between them?

Suddenly, Sweetflower's burning green gaze turned to catch Rainpaw in its fire.

"Rainpaw?" the medicine cat called. "Can you run to my den and fetch me some real moss? Wet moss please."

Rainpaw nodded and scurried away to the medicine den, her ears burning that Sweetflower had caught her eavesdropping.

However, after listening in on that conversation, an uneasy feeling was growing inside of Rainpaw. Her father was right. Sweetflower was sometimes a little cranky, but she had never had any tolerance for Lilypaw. Rainpaw had thought it was due to her littermate's recklessness that tended to get others hurt, but she sensed something greater than that now. Something had definitely happened between her father and the ShadowClan medicine cat, and Rainpaw's sister was at the center of it.

* * *

**Sorry again for**** it being so long! I'll try to update more often than this, though I may not be able to. So, R&R, please constructive criticism. I still need OC's (use my rules!) BTW, I read Bramblestar's Storm! I'm so happy it's out! I loved it except for two things. SPOILERS! **

**Firstly, they killed DovexBumble! I loved that pairing! ;_; Secondly, there is a certain new character who is more of a mary-sue than Dovewing! I really hate Jessy, she drives me crazy!**


	17. Chapter 15

**_Chapter Fifteen_**

**Helllllloooooo y'all! CandyHeart13 here back with another chapter for you all to read. Special thanks goes out to Tigergirl319 for so many of your super-nice comments, you are so sweet! Please please PLEASE, if you're reading this, can you give me some constructive criticism on this story? I'm not getting that many reviews, and I don't know how to fix it! Is the summary bad? Is the story too slow? Too much fluff? TELL ME! Ok, crazy authoress done boring you with her drabble, so on with the story!**

* * *

"Let all cats old enough to catch their own prey gather around the High Branch for a clan meeting!"

Rainpaw looked up from her vole, puzzled. Beside her, Lilypaw turned to face her littermate.

"Another clan meeting? But we just had one last night." her sister exclaimed.

Rainpaw nodded. Last night, Stormstar had held the ceremony for Dawnblaze, allowing her to retire to the elder's den.

"Maybe he's _finally _announcing an attack on ThunderClan!" Lilypaw hissed, working her claws in and out of the soft dirt. Ever since the last border scuffle, many of the ShadowClan warriors had been pressuring their leader to teach their troublesome neighbors a lesson. Rainpaw cuffed her sister over the ear.

"Mousebrain!" she snorted. "Why do you want a battle? Cats can die, and now that it's leafbare, we need all the warriors we can get to catch prey for the queens and the elders!"

Lilypaw blinked at Rainpaw.

"So?"

"So, they're our _clanmates_! The warrior code says we have to protect the clan; not get them meaninglessly slaughtered!" Rainpaw practically yowled the last sentence. When would Lilypaw understand that violence was not the answer to everything?

"We can protect the clan by decimating our enemies; not hiding away like baby rabbits waiting for the fox to come." Lilypaw argued "I understand your fear Rainpaw; the first time you go into battle, you'll die like your dream said, but other cats are actually going to be successful warriors."

Anger boiled inside Rainpaw.

"Stop talking about that!" she shrieked. "You're no medicine cat, so get this into your twisted little head. I am not going to die anytime soon, so you'd better leave me alone!"

Rainpaw was trembling, standing nose-to-nose with her sister, who was sneering back at her.

"Would our newest apprentices please honor the rest of the clan by gracing us with their presence and agreeing to attend the clan meeting?"

The two sisters spun around at the sound of Stormstar's mew. Rainpaw found the eyes of the entire clan scorching her pelt with their light. She had been so mad at Lilypaw, she had forgotten the meeting!

She felt her face bursting into flames, but she forced herself to look up and meet the gazes of the rest of the clan head on.

"Sorry," she mumbled, shuffling her way into the crowd, ignoring Duskpaw's smirking face and the looks of disapproval on the faces of Leafdrop and Mudstripe. She plopped herself down beside Owlpaw and Icepaw, who gave her sympathetic glances. Ignoring the shame she was sure was coming off her in waves, Rainpaw sat up and looked politely at Stormstar, determined to be on perfect behavior.

"Now that we have everyone here," Stormstar began, pausing to let his deep blue gaze land briefly on Rainpaw and Lilypaw, who was sitting next to her mentor, Pinetail, and glowering at her paws.

"I want you all to hear what our recent border patrol has to report." The ShadowClan leader mewed, beckoning forward the patrol leader, Shadeclaw, as well as Moonshadow and her apprentice, Sootpaw. The smoky grey-black tom stood at the base of the tree, and began to speak.

"When our patrol went to renew the scent markers at sunhigh, we saw that ThunderClan again has tried to claim the grassy clearing as their own." He announced, anger flashing in his amber gaze.

Yowls of outrage erupted from the crowd, and Rainpaw felt anger burning a pit in her stomach as well. The grassy clearing that Leafdrop and Rainpaw had seen, according to Leafdrop, had been ShadowClan territory back since the time of the Great Battle with the Dark Forest, back when the elders' elders parents were kits themselves.

The then ThunderClan leader had turned the clearing back over to ShadowClan, having won it in a vicious and bloody battle seasons before that. They had claimed that the first battle for the clearing had been started by Dark influence, and that they wanted nothing more to do with it.

However, lately, ThunderClan had been getting greedier, trying to push their borders farther then they already were, and the leader, Robinstar, had her sights set on retaking the clearing.

"Stormstar, we have to do something! ThunderClan has made themselves pretty clear that they want to expand their borders and they need to be stopped before we lose any warriors!"

This was Cherryblaze, leaping to her paws, her cream tail lashing, as she shot a concerned look over at Dawnblaze, who still had a nasty scar.

"I agree with Cherryblaze." Badgerheart stepped forward. "We have let ThunderClan get away with thinking they own the entire forest for far too long."

"If we can't convince those mangy tree-climbers to go away with words, then let our claws do the talking for us!" Rainpaw gave a start of surprise as Owlpaw stood up next to her. Did he really think fighting ThunderClan was the answer too?

"Be quiet, all of you!"

Everyone stopped to see Amberleaf on her feet, her dappled tail lashing.

"Stormstar is our leader. If he decides that attacking is what we should do, than we will attack. If he says no, and I find any one of you have provoked a fight with ThunderClan, I can promise you will be seeing nothing but the elders' den and mouse bile for the next moon!" The ShadowClan deputy bared her teeth with a snarl, her amber gaze boring into everyone gathered around her.

Rainpaw was shocked. Amberleaf was a fair cat, but seeing how fearsome she had just became, as well as the harsh punishment now hanging over their heads, Rainpaw had no doubt that the situation was serious.

Stormstar sighed. "Thank you, Amberleaf. I promise you all, I will let it be known at the Gathering two moonrises from now that ShadowClan will not tolerate any more trespassing, and I will assure Robinstar that the consequences will not be pleasant if she fails to comply."

* * *

**So, that's it for this chapter! I'll update either tomorrow or the day after. Idk whether I'll get another chapter up before school starts up again on Tuesday. After that, Idk how long before I update again since my fall schedule is absolutely ridiculous. PLEASE REVIEW! Seriously, I don't know if this is a good story or not, and I might take this down if I don't get more reviews.**


	18. Chapter 16

**_Chapter Sixteen_**

**What is this? Shira actually updated TWO DAYS IN A ROW? THE WORLD HAS GONE MAD! Haha. Thank you everyone to who reviewed, it means more to me than you could ever know! Tawnystar, your OC is very much appreciated, and she will be making an appearance in the next chapter! To everyone, sorry that the recent chapters were so fluffy, I had had this chapter planned out for a while and I needed stuff to go in between. So, enjoy, everyone! This is one of the best chappies I've written, and I'm ridiculously proud of it! :D**

* * *

Rainpaw crept silently through the forest, jaws parted and tasting the air. A wet, soggy clump of snow plopped off the fern she brushed against, splattering over her head.

Rainpaw gave a hiss of annoyance, moving out of her stealthy crouch to sit up and shake her head, sending icy droplets flying everywhere.

_Snow in leaf-fall! Have StarClan gone mad?_

She gave a sigh, casting a glance around the now white-covered forest, trying to find her sister.

Pinetail and Leafdrop had decided it was time for Rainpaw and Lilypaw's first unsupervised hunting in pairs assignment. They had sent the littermates off hunting around the RiverClan border, telling them they each needed to return with two pieces of prey by sundown.

Rainpaw got to her feet, ready to go find Lilypaw, who had wandered off after what she assured Rainpaw was a plump, easy piece of prey, when suddenly, a mound of snow in front of Rainpaw exploded.

A heavy shape slammed into Rainpaw, shoving her face into the icy powder.

Rainpaw thrashed wildly, trying in vain to claw at her attacker, but strong paws kept her pinned to the ground.

She spluttered as she inhaled a noseful of freezing snow, hacking as it entered her windpipe.

_I can't breathe! _

Panic surged through Rainpaw, and her movements became more frenzied and desperate as a terrified yowl escaped her.

The cat holding her gave a disdainful sniff.

"Pathetic." It muttered. She felt hot breath on her neck, and a familiar voice snarled in her ear. "Have you had enough yet, crowfood eater?" Lilypaw taunted.

Her sister hopped neatly off her back, as Rainpaw scrambled shakily to her paws. She spun to face her sister, shivering from the cold and her building rage.

"You snakeheart!" Rainpaw spat, trying to restrain herself from clawing the smug look off her littermate's face. "You could have killed me! I thought you were a ThunderClan cat!"

"Please." Lilypaw rolled her eyes. "If I were a ThunderClan cat, you would have been dead by now."

Rainpaw winced at her sister's jibe about her pathetically weak battle skills. It had been a moon since ThunderClan's last attempt on the grassy clearing, but now that leafbare had seemed to arrive early, it was pretty obvious that ShadowClan's neighbors would want extra hunting grounds more than ever.

The mentors had been drilling the apprentices in battle training almost every day, and it was no secret Lilypaw would turn into an excellent fighter, while Rainpaw was still struggling with the basics.

"Besides," Lilypaw continued, "You need to stay on your guard more often. In times like these, we must always be alert."

"You're not my mentor!" Rainpaw growled. "And besides, we have hunting to do, if you haven't forgotten, and there is no time for goofing off!"

"I already finished." Lilypaw purred. "Two mice, one pigeon, and a thrush. If you haven't noticed, my white pelt is perfect for staying hidden from my prey."

Her golden eyes glittered maliciously, looking at Rainpaw as if she were nothing more than another thing Lilypaw had caught.

"And what have _you_ caught, dear Rainpaw?" Lilypaw inquired sweetly. Rainpaw glowered at her sister, not telling her she had only managed to snag a small frog.

"I've caught plenty!" she informed her littermate, before turning around and starting to walk away. "I could catch more if you weren't around to mess me up!"

Lilypaw trotted after Rainpaw, speeding up a little when Rainpaw quickened her pace to try to avoid her.

"Oh, sister. You know you don't need me to mess you up." Lilypaw mewed.

Rainpaw gritted her teeth, trying to ignore her sister. She gave a sigh as they approached the RiverClan border. There wouldn't be any prey over here, so now she would have to return with one measly catch. That wouldn't be enough to feed the kits and elders! She dreaded facing Leafdrop; she hated it when her mentor was disappointed in her.

"We should be returning to camp, its gettin-" Lilypaw broke off with an outraged gasp.

The two apprentices were on the border right next to the lake, and the halfbridge. A RiverClan hunting patrol was seen perched on top of the bridge, leaning down and looking for fish.

"Those flea-brained fish-munchers!" Lilypaw hissed, the hairs on her back rising rapidly. "They know they can't hunt there! How dare they scare away our prey!"

"Hold on a moment, Lilypaw. We need-" Rainpaw began, but Lilypaw wasn't listening.

Her sister shot across the border, racing toward the patrol, yowling.

"Get away from there, frog-brains! You better leave right now before I make you!"

"Lilypaw!" Rainpaw shrieked, horrified. She scrambled after her sister, wincing as she crossed the border herself, before running toward where Lilypaw was facing off against the three RiverClan cats, all bigger than both of them, and were lashing their tails menacingly.

"Lilypaw, _stop! _We need to get back-" Rainpaw was cut off with a gasp as her paws hit the slippery wood of the halfbridge. She scrabbled wildly, trying to sink her claws in and stop herself.

Momentum, however, kept Rainpaw going, and she skidded across the surface before tumbling off the side. Rainpaw gave a last, anguished cry as she landed with a massive splash into the lake's icy waters.

* * *

**Dun dun duh CLIFFHANGER! What has Lilypaw gotten Rainpaw into now? I really hope you liked this chapter! REVEW OR I HITT U OVR HED WITH FRYING PAN! jkjk**

**Sorry, ppl, I HAD to do that (dare). Cookies to whoever can guess what that's from! **

**Authoress: Oooohhhh, that was fun to write. AGH! OH NOOOOO! I'M GETTING CORRUPTED BY TROLLFIC SYNDROME! *Hits head against wall* MUST SNAP OUT OF IT!**

**Rainpaw: No, Shira! Remember the therapy!**

**Authoress: I DONT KNOW WHAT TO BELIEVE ANYMORE!**

**Rainpaw: She's lost it! LILYPAW, GET THE HOSE!**

**(Lilypaw comes out cackling maniacally and begins blasting Rainpaw with a fire hose)**

**Rainpaw: NO! NOT ME! BLAST SHIRA! SHIRAAAAA!**

**Authoress: (curled into fetal position, sucking thumb) My mind has turned against me...**

**Lilypaw: RAIN, RAIN, GO AWAY! FEEEEEEL THE HOSEY WRATH!**

**Rainpaw: Help!**

**(Owlpaw and Sandpaw walk out)**

**Sandpaw: Sooo, we're here to do the closer, and to put Shira and Lilypaw back into their respective confinement cells!**

**Owlpaw: Yup. So, Shira the Mage doesn't own warriors, just our story idea and her OC's, us. **

**Sandpaw: Read and review, and until next time, see you!**

**Rainpaw: SHIRA HAS DYNAMITE! **

**Authoress: (holding stick of dynamite) Ooooohhhh, pretty sparkly! Italian candles! (cookies to who guesses where 'italian candles' came from!)**

**Everyone else: RUN FOR YOUR LIVES!**


	19. Chapter 17

**_Chapter Seventeen_**

**Hey everybody! I'm back! Let's see what happened to Rainpaw! Tawnystar, your character is in this. I really hope you like her!**

* * *

Cold. That's all there was. Pure coldness. As Rainpaw sank through the frigid blackness, part of her mind was screaming at her. She had to move. She had to swim back to the surface.

But the freeze seemed to penetrate her very soul. She was ice. The freeze shocked her system, disabling Rainpaw from moving, from breathing, from doing anything other than to gradually descend deeper and deeper into the water's deathly, bitterly glacial embrace.

A trickle of air escaped from Rainpaw's mouth in the shape of a shimmering bubble. She watched it soar back upward into the pale, fading sparkle of sunlight on the surface. A wave of despair washed over her, sharper and more painful than even the cold lake water.

_I'm going to die._

As the thought crossed Rainpaw's mind, a flash of gold caught her eye, standing out against the darkness.

A golden furred she-cat was moving through the water, swimming strongly. A spark of hope entered Rainpaw's mind as the cat's teeth closed around her scruff, and started tugging her upward.

Sunlight hit Rainpaw's vision, and she squinted, blinded after the near blackness of the lake. Black spots danced against her eyes, and Rainpaw could barely make out other cats on the shoreline as her rescuer dragged her out onto the pebbles.

Half conscious, Rainpaw felt strong paws against her chest, rubbing her flank. She retched, upheaving what felt like half the lake. Strangely, after being pulled out, Rainpaw felt herself growing colder instead of warmer. Her entire body was shivering so badly, Rainpaw felt as if she were about to fall apart.

The paws continued rubbing her, and another face loomed over Rainpaw's, amber eyes narrowed, and water dripping off her whiskers. Rainpaw recognized her as the cat that had rescued her.

Out of the corner of her eye, Rainpaw saw a blue-eyed tortoiseshell she-cat rubbing her, and Rainpaw noticed that whatever she was doing, it was allowing a tiny bit of warmth to enter her chilled bones. A terrible screeching was in the background, but Rainpaw couldn't be bothered to look around to find what it was.

"How is she, Mapleflight?"

This came from the tortoiseshell, addressing the golden tabby she-cat.

"She'll be alright, Spottedshade. I wasn't sure at first, but she looks fine now." the tabby, Mapleflight, replied.

Rainpaw tried to open her jaws to speak, but with all the shivering, all she could let out was a raspy whine and bloody spittle after mistakenly biting her tongue.

Mapleflight and Spottedshade stared at her, and Rainpaw realized that these cats were part of the patrol hunting on the halfbridge.

However, rule-breakers or not, the RiverClan warriors had also just saved her life.

As she again attempted to speak, Mapleflight put a paw on Rainpaw's muzzle. The paw smelled like fish, reeds, and the water.

"Don't bother." Mapleflight spoke gruffly. "Your system is going into shock due to the icy water. You won't be able to talk, or move for a while."

"You're lucky that's all." Spottedshade added. "Had you been down there any longer, you would have been too far gone to do anything."

A trickle of fear shot up Rainpaw's spine, picturing her drowned, frozen body forever resting at the bottom of the lake.

"Come on, get up. You'll die of cold soon if you don't get warmth and shelter." Mapleflight nudged Rainpaw into a sitting position, pressing against her to steady the apprentice as Rainpaw slumped to the side.

"Mapleflight! Spottedshade! I need help over here!"

Finally, Rainpaw took in the awful yowling that had been in the background. Mapleflight turned and Rainpaw was now in a position where she could see the source.

A light brown tabby tom with bright blue eyes was struggling to pin down Lilypaw, who was shrieking with rage, and squirming furiously. He yowled in pain as Lilypaw twisted her head and clamped her teeth down on his paw. Spottedshade rolled her eyes.

"Seriously, Lionpaw. It's only one apprentice, and you're bigger than her! All I asked you to do was to restrain her while we saved her clanmate's life. I thought I trained you better."

"But she bit me!" Lionpaw whined to Spottedshade, who was obviously his mentor.

Lilypaw's golden eyes blazed in fury, and she spat, "You stupid mange-pelts! You'd better get your filthy paws off from my sister, and move your pathetic tails away from here, or I'll rip them out and shove them down your throats!"

"Very grateful, I see." Mapleflight murmured.

Rainpaw inwardly winced in embarrassment. How could Lilypaw be so rude to the cats that had saved her?

Lionpaw gave an indignant hiss. "You can't speak like that to my mentor, you piece of scum! And _especially _not to the RiverClan deputy! Not to mention that you two are on _our _territory, _and _we just saved your sister's life! You should be groveling at our feet!"

Lilypaw's eyes widened, and she flattened her ears. Rainpaw gulped.

_RiverClan deputy?_

She then noticed that Mapleflight had an air of authority around her, and how Spottedshade spoke to her with respect.

_Just my luck! I fall in the lake, and have to be fished out by the second-most important cat in RiverClan. Stormstar's going to kill me!_

Mapleflight spoke again. "Hush Lionpaw. You may let her up."

She moved away from Rainpaw as Lionpaw got off of Lilypaw, letting her scurry over to where Rainpaw was.

"However, Lionpaw does have a point." Mapleflight mewed sternly, turning to Lilypaw. "You two need to get back to where you belong. We will escort you back to your camp."

"We don't need your help!" Lilypaw snapped.

Mapleflight growled. "Let me rephrase that. We are coming with you so I can explain to your leader what exactly happened here."

Lilypaw gave a snarl, but dipped her head in consent. As Spottedshade moved to help Rainpaw, Lilypaw blocked her, hackles raised.

"_I_ can carry her."

Spottedshade gave her a disbelieving look, but Lilypaw turned, whispering harshly in Rainpaw's ear, "Why did you have to fall in, you klutz!" as she boosted Rainpaw over her shoulders.

Mapleflight turned to Lionpaw.

"Report back to camp and inform them where we are going." she ordered.

Lionpaw looked as if he wanted to protest, but thought better of it, and dashed off into the reeds. Mapleflight watched him go, then started walking toward the border.

"Let's go."

* * *

**Sooooooo, everyone likey? I might get an update in tomorrow, maybe not. SCHOOL STARTS DAY AFTER TOMORROW, WAAAAAAHH!**

**How did you like Mapleflight, Tawnystar? **

**Anyway, keep sending in OC's, and tell me in reviews who your favorite character is. Mine actually is Lilypaw. Her personality is so different than mine, making it a major challenge to write her character. It's super fun for me, and I consider her my biggest accomplishment, no matter how much of a nastypants she is!**

**Lilypaw: (Comes in again with the fire hose) HOW DARE YOU INSULT MY AWESOMENESS! DIE, HUMAN SCUM. TIME TO FACE DEATH BY HOSEYNESS! (Blasts authoress)**

**Me: Tell my story!**

**(Rainpaw and Owlpaw come out)**

**Owlpaw: Should we do something?**

**Rainpaw: I ain't goin' near her! She's on a sugar-high, and you know what happens to cats with the prefix "Lily" that find sugar!**

**Owlpaw: But I don't want to!**

**Rainpaw: (bats her eyes prettily) Please?**

**Owlpaw: ****_sigh. _****I'll go get my suit of armor**

**Rainpaw: Well, dear readers. R&R and come back next time to see if Lilypaw kills anyone!**


	20. Chapter 18

**_Chapter Eighteen_**

**Hi everyone! I am sooooo so sorry for not updating for like four days! School just started for me, and my schedule is now BONKERS! Please accept my apology with this extra-long chapter to make things better!**

* * *

Rainpaw groaned slightly as Lilypaw not so gently stomped back through the forest, the RiverClan cats on her heels.

Rainpaw winced as Lilypaw dropped her on her side onto the icy ground.

"Hey; why is she still all flopped and useless? You jumped in after her, and you're fine!" Lilypaw demanded to Mapleflight. The RiverClan deputy glared at the white she-cat.

"RiverClan cats have extra-thick pelts that act as insulation from the cold. And they're more water-resistant than other cats. I'm used to it." Mapleflight explained. "And I suggest you don't leave your sister on the frozen ground like that; I told you, she could get sick or die of low-body heat."

Lilypaw scowled, and turned to pick Rainpaw up again, but Rainpaw gathered her strength to struggle into an upright position.

"N-n-no, Lilyp-paw," she stammered, energy rapidly draining. "I'm-I'm f-f-f-fine! I c-ca-ca-can walk." All warmth had seemed to leave Rainpaw's body; she felt as if her fur was pure frost, and her paws chunks of ice.

Breathing heavily, Rainpaw shakily got to her feet, only to stumble forward and fall again. She felt a pelt pressing next to her, and felt Spottedshade boosting her up.

"You lead us back to camp." The tortoiseshell she-cat spoke to Rainpaw's littermate. "I think your sister can manage." Spottedshade looked at Rainpaw.

"Can you walk if you lean on my shoulder?" she asked. Rainpaw nodded.

They seemed to be walking for moons, and each pawstep seemed to be heavier than the last. It felt like sharp thorns were piercing Rainpaw's lungs, and she found herself leaning more and more on Spottedshade's shoulder. She vaguely sensed Mapleflight on her other side, but Lilypaw remained farther ahead.

After what seemed like seasons, the ShadowClan camp finally came into scent range. Rainpaw gave a sigh of relief upon seeing a familiar mottled brown shape burst out of the undergrowth.

"I knew I smelled RiverClan! You better have a good reason for being on our territory!" Owlpaw charged toward the group, skidding to a halt upon seeing Rainpaw, his green eyes widening.

"Get away from Rainpaw! What did you do to her?" he spat, unsheathing his claws.

"Calm down, prickly furball." Lilypaw was walking toward them now, her head raised proudly. "Rainpaw fell in the lake, and these cats rescued her and are helping her get back to camp."

Owlpaw lowered his hackles. "Oh. Then, thank you." he addressed Spottedshade and Mapleflight, dipping his head. "But _Lilypaw _should have been perfectly capable of carrying home her own sister." Owlpaw rounded on Lilypaw, who immediately fired up.

"I needed to keep an eye on them, and to look out for danger. The RiverClan deputy wishes to speak to Stormstar, so _I_ am being the escort." Lilypaw hissed, facing Owlpaw. Owlpaw growled back at her, but Lilypaw ignored him, turning to Mapleflight.

"I will take you to our camp, but I don't want to see you try anything." She warned. Mapleflight shot Lilypaw an icy look.

"You need to learn what respect is, apprentice." Mapleflight spoke coldly. She turned to Spottedshade.

"Will you be okay with the other apprentice?"

Spottedshade nodded. "Go ahead." She meowed. Mapleflight pushed past Lilypaw, walking briskly to the entrance. Lilypaw gave a hiss, running to catch up to her.

After the two left, Owlpaw turned to Spottedshade.

"Can I help her back?"

"Will you be able to?" Spottedshade asked.

"I will help my clanmate." Owlpaw's voice was even and determined.

Spottedshade moved away from Rainpaw. Rainpaw tried to walk herself, but found that she couldn't balance. She fell with a gasp, only to be caught by Owlpaw, pressing his shoulder into hers supportively.

They walked slowly to the entrance, only to be nearly run over by Sweetflower, who came flying out the other way. She stopped short with a small gasp, ginger and white pelt bristling.

"Great StarClan, Rainpaw! It's dangerous for you to be out here; Owlpaw, you need to get her into a nest in my den before she freezes!"

As Sweetflower came to support Rainpaw on the other side, Rainpaw turned to look at Spottedshade.

"Tha-thankssss." She meowed, blinking warmly at the cat who had saved her life.

Spottedshade dipped her head graciously as they came trough the bramble barrier, and separated. Rainpaw saw Mapleflight sitting in the middle of the clearing, addressing Stormstar, with Amberleaf right beside him. She glimpsed Mudstripe giving her a worried look as Sweetflower and Owlpaw whisked her into the medicine den.

Owlpaw settled her into a soft nest, while Sweetflower bustled around looking for herbs. The medicine cat placed a leafy bundle in front of Rainpaw, while Owlpaw gave her ear a lick.

"I'm going to go and see what's happening. Will you be okay?" he asked softly. Rainpaw nodded, sinking exhausted into the moss, and leaning forward to lap up the herbs.

"Thank you for being so kind to me." She murmured. Owlpaw blinked warmly, and turned to go outside.

Still feeling chilled, Rainpaw turned to see Sweetflower placing some wet moss in front of her.

"I already gave you some thyme for shock, some chamomile for energy, and some poppy seeds to help you sleep. You need rest, but this is to just wash the bitter herb taste out of your mouth. Your sister has scratches, so I'm going to go treat them." Rainpaw nodded drowsily, lapping at the moss.

She closed her eyes, forcing herself to relax. She half-dosed, thinking random things, and was just about to drift into sleep, when someone burst loudly through the den entrance.

"Rainpaw!"

Rainpaw blinked groggily and looked up to see Owlpaw, green eyes wide and agitated, tail lashing angrily.

"What's wrong?" she questioned, wondering what had gotten her friend so worked up.

"Your sister!" Owlpaw snarled. Rainpaw felt a shiver of anxiety. Now what had Lilypaw done?

"She went and told everyone that you chased a squirrel across the RiverClan border, were caught by the patrol, and you picked a fight with them. She said you guys rolled into the water and an apprentice tried to drown you, but Lilypaw stopped him. The patrol felt bad, so they helped you home to try to make up a story so we wouldn't get mad."

Rainpaw shot up, all tiredness gone.

"What?" she yelped. "That isn't what happened at all!"

"I could tell. But Stormstar believed it, so now Lilypaw gets to go to tonight's gathering, while you have to clean the elders' den for three days." Owlpaw looked at his feet.

"I should have defended you." He whispered. "I tried to tell them you wouldn't do that, but Thornfang shushed me!"

"But what about Mapleflight?"

"Stormstar wouldn't let her explain. It was pretty much like 'Oh, you saved an apprentice from drowning? That's nice, hey you can hunt on the halfbridge during leafbare now. Thanks again, now go away.' As soon as they left, he had Lilypaw explain."

Rainpaw moaned, and buried her head in her paws. Owlpaw moved to comfort her, but was interrupted by Sweetflower's arrival.

"Are you agitating my patient? Away with you, now; she needs rest!"

As Owlpaw was shooed away, Rainpaw squeezed her eyes shut, wanting to stay curled in a ball forever. How could this day get any worse?

* * *

**So, again, extra-long. Now that I have school, I'll be updating like, maybe every 3-4 days, idk. Please stick with me for this, guys. Okay, I won't update at all until I get SIX, yes 6 reviews. So pleeeeaaaassssse R&R. Until next time; ****_au revoir!_**


	21. Chapter 19

**_Chapter Nineteen_**

**Hello everyone! I am sosososososososososoooooooo sorry about not updating sooner! I am a bad child, and my parents' favorite punishment-sorry, ****_consequence_****- is to ban my laptop for a week, which is where the doc where I keep Blood Rain is on. Anyway, I may update twice this weekend. Again, sorry for making you guys wait, you are truly amazing for sticking with a dumb slacker like yours truely. Throw imaginary stuff at me in the comments if you want. So, read and enjoy!**

* * *

Rainpaw wrinkled her nose as she dabbed mousebile on Flamepelt's ticks. Today was her first day out of the medicine den, and as Owlpaw had said, Leafdrop had ordered Rainpaw on camp chores for three days.

_"__I can't believe you, Rainpaw." Leafdrop had stood over Rainpaw, eyes flashing. "I've stressed to you the importance of keeping the peace with other clans, and not to stir up trouble, and what do you do? You provoke a fight on the RiverClan border, and we end up having to let them make nuisances of themselves on that halfbridge for the rest of leafbare. I am very disappointed in you."_

_Rainpaw had flattened her ears, her mentor's words scalding her more than the hottest flames._

But it wasn't me! _A little voice inside her protested, but Rainpaw quickly stifled it. Unfortunately, Rainpaw wasn't the only one thinking that._

_Owlpaw cut in, protesting, "But it wasn't her! Rainpaw wouldn't ever cross the border, let alone start a fight. It was-"_

_Rainpaw stopped her friend with an icy glare. Owlpaw stared back at her just as fiercely, green eyes on green eyes. Leafdrop cleared her throat._

_"__Excuse me, is there something I need to hear?"_

_Her yellow gaze bore into the two apprentices. Owlpaw looked hesitant, ready to say something. Rainpaw stared pleadingly at Owlpaw, willing him to hold his tongue._

_"__Rainpaw, did you really chase a squirrel across the border? Or do I need to have a talk with your sister?" Leafdrop stared straight at her apprentice._

_This was it. If Rainpaw talked now, she could continue training. The rest of the clan would stop glaring at her as if she were a monster. No one said anything, but Rainpaw knew the clan blamed her for Stormstar's gift of halfbridge hunting rights to RiverClan. As they should; had Rainpaw not fallen in, ShadowClan wouldn't have had to give their neighbors a thank-you gift. But the truth seemed to lodge itself in Rainpaw's throat, unwilling to come out._

_Rainpaw stared straight at her paws. "No," she muttered. "Owlpaw is just trying to help, but he should know I made a mistake."_

_Owlpaw gave a low hiss, and Leafdrop looked at Rainpaw suspiciously._

_"__You know you can tell me anything, Rainpaw."_

_Rainpaw nodded mutely, and Leafdrop walked slowly away, shooting Rainpaw a last dark glance._

_"__Why can't they know the truth?" Owlpaw had spat as soon as they were alone, his gaze chips of green ice. Rainpaw had never seen him so mad at her._

_"__Lilypaw didn't mean it, Owlpaw, I swear! She feels awful about it! She begged me not to say anything, and she's doing everything she can to make up for it."_

_"__That's the biggest piece of foxdung I've ever heard in my life." Owlpaw growled. "When, Rainpaw? When are you going to learn that Lilypaw doesn't care one mousetail about you, or anyone but herself? Duskpaw follows her everywhere, she's got the entire clan wrapped round her tail, and even you are too blinded by your idea that since you're kin, she must care about you. Let me tell you this. Lilypaw may be your littermate, but she is not your sister, and I won't just stand by until you end up at the bottom of the lake because of her!"_

_Rainpaw had stood there gaping, frozen in shock, trying to comprehend Owlpaw's words as he stalked away from her._

Rainpaw growled under her breath, biting down hard on a tick at the tip of Flamepelt's tail. She felt as the tick burst satisfyingly, and she spat it out on the ground. With a huff, she proceeded to move on to Hollyfrost, indignation running through her as she remembered Owlpaw's words. She gave an irritated snort.

_How dare he say those things? What happens between Lilypaw and me is none of Owlpaw's business. And he can't just insult her like that! Of course she cares about me, we're sisters!_

But Rainpaw's gut twisted, and she couldn't help but flash back again to when she first spoke to Lilypaw.

_Rainpaw's littermate had come dashing up to her, golden eyes wide in distress._

_"__Rainpaw, oh my StarClan, I've been looking everywhere for you!"_

_Rainpaw felt the flames of anger slowly heating under her pelt into an inferno of emotion._

_"__How could you do this to me? How? Do you have any idea what everyone thinks of me right now?"_

_"__Rainpaw, I know, and I'm super sorry! Please don't tell anyone!"_

_Rainpaw gave a harsh laugh._

_"__And why shouldn't I?"_

_"__Please, Rainpaw. I never meant to get you in trouble honest. It's just that, when Stormstar asked me what happened, I-I panicked! And if you think the clan hates you, what do you think they'll think of me if they find out?" Lilypaw wailed._

_Rainpaw narrowed her eyes._

_"__You would deserve it, though. I wouldn't."_

_"__If you keep quiet, I'll get you prey for a moon! Trust me, you won't _regret it."

_Rainpaw nodded, and Lilypaw purred. _

_"__Thank you, Rainpaw. I knew you would be reasonable."_

Rainpaw frowned. Lilypaw had seemed apologetic, but Rainpaw could see in her littermate's eyes a note of warning. Although Lilypaw had made it seem like a choice, Rainpaw knew what her sister meant by saying that she wouldn't regret it. She had made it obvious that Rainpaw would end up regretting it if she said anything.

"Hey, a little less jabbing me like a ball of moss, please."

Hollyfrost's annoyed meow snapped Rainpaw back into reality. She gave an apologetic murmur, and continued grooming the old cream and brown she-cat's pelt.

When she finished, Rainpaw stood up, calling over her shoulder.

"I'm going to get some new moss for your nests, alright?"

"I better not feel any wet moss!" Whitewhisker hissed after her. Rainpaw, unable to stop herself, retorted.

"Are you sure? I was planning on washing the new moss by dunking it in every puddle I see!"

The elder's eyes flashed.

"Careful, youngin'. That temper of yours has already ruined the clan's hunting. When I was a warrior, RiverClan never dared disturb our hunting by fishing on the halfbridge. Thanks to you, now we have to starve while those frog-faces scare off all the prey this side of the lake! You're lucky your sister was there to pull you out, otherwise you might have been something they fished out and served to the kits!" He sniffed. "Maybe you should have, and then that white menace could have drowned after you. It would have served you right, _after you killed your mother._"

Rainpaw felt as if the elder's fiery tongue had clawed out her heart, and she was gradually trickling out of the wound, and melting into the ground.

She staggered out of the elders' den, vaguely hearing Dawnblaze scolding Whitewhisker from inside.

"How could you say that to her? She had no control over what happened with Dawnheart. And you, of all cats should show some compassion!"

Rainpaw blindly began to blunder toward the medicine den to grab moss, only to have a dark paw stick out and trip her.

With a grunt, Rainpaw went sprawling onto the ground. An annoying voice cooed over her, dripping with false sympathy.

"Awww, is someone having a bad day?"

* * *

**Soooooooo, how did you guys like it? Yes I know Whitewhisker seems like a total jerkface, but I assure you, he diskikes Rainpaw and Lilypaw for a reason. Who do you think tripped Rainpaw? It isn't the obvious answer. Again, I may update again this weekend, maybe not. But I'm really happy because I GOT A PART IN MY HIGH SCHOOL PLAY! I'm a freshman, and parts usually go to the upperclassmen, but I got an extra role! I know it doesn't seem like much, but only four freshies, including myself, made it, soooo I'M FEELIN' ALIVE! Ok, enough about the authoress' boring life. R&R and tell me what you liked about the story! See ya! :)**


	22. Chapter 20

**_Chapter Twenty_**

**Grrrr, I told myself I'd update more than once a week! Agh, school's annoying. Good job to whoever guessed the cat last time! Anyway, A/N over. Read onward, my friends!**

* * *

Rainpaw growled in annoyance, looking up to see the smirking face of Duskpaw jeering down at her.

"Do you need any help, Rainpaw?" Duskpaw inquired sweetly.

"I don't have time to mess around right now, Duskpaw." Rainpaw grumbled. "I have chores to do."

Rainpaw started to get up, only to be bumped back down after Duskpaw stepped in front of her.

"Oops, clumsy me!" Duskpaw giggled, amber eyes glittering with malice.

Rainpaw fought the urge to jump on the mean, black apprentice, working her claws in and out of the ground.

"Isn't there something you need to be doing?" Rainpaw asked through gritted teeth. "As you like to inform me so often, you are _not _confined to camp on cleaning duty; don't you have a hunting patrol to be on, or battle training? Anything?"

Duskpaw pouted. "Oh, dear. Somebody's grouchy. What's wrong, tired of screwing up?"

Her voice ended in a snarl, and she thrust her nose right into Rainpaw's face. "I'm only wondering why you're such a disaster at everything."

Rainpaw felt anger rising inside her. She could endure Lilypaw's taunts, but there was no way she was putting up with Duskpaw. She sprung to her paws.

"Why do you hate me?" she spat. "What have I ever done to make you treat me like this? You treat Lilypaw fine, what's wrong with me?"

Duskpaw's eyes narrowed.

"Lilypaw is my best friend, and I will be loyal to her. She tells me everything. More than she tells _you_, I'm sure. You, Rainpaw, need to learn to keep that jealousy in check. Not everyone has to like you, you know."

"Then why do you always bother me?" Rainpaw challenged.

"Because you need to harden a little. I mean seriously, Rainpaw, grow a spine! It's always drama, drama, drama with you and your daydreaming into the clouds. You're way too soft to be a ShadowClan warrior, and it's embarrassing." Duskpaw sniffed disdainfully. "As a matter of fact, I do think I'll go ask to hunt for the clan now. We need responsible apprentices. Have fun with your smelly chores."

As Duskpaw rose to walk away, a woot sounded behind the two she-cats.

"Water fight!"

Before Rainpaw could do anything, a cascade of dirty, cold water splattered over Rainpaw's head.

Spluttering with surprise, Rainpaw whirled around.

"Sandpaw!" Rainpaw shrieked.

Sandpaw was in front of her, rolling around in a puddle of rainwater, a mischievous look glittering in his blue eyes. Catching Rainpaw's gaze, Sandpaw sat up, water droplets dripping off his twitching whiskers.

"Come on, Rainpaw! Join the fun!"

Sandpaw hooked a piece of moss from Rainpaw's pile, soaking it in his puddle.

"Look out!" Sandpaw called, flicking the now-sodden ball at Rainpaw. Rainpaw ducked, yelping.

"Watch out!"

The moss ball sailed over Rainpaw's head, landing with a squish behind her, followed by an outraged cry.

"My _pelt!_"

Duskpaw was standing frozen in place, her usually sleek black pelt soaked and patchy, and the wet moss now stuck to her chest. Her amber eyes blazed in anger.

"You complete _lunatic!_ You have serious issues, do you know that?"

Sandpaw purred. "Haven't you heard, Duskpaw? Weird is the new normal; everyone knows that!"

Duskpaw bristled, her entire body trembling.

"You-you-" Duskpaw was spitting, until a mew interrupted her.

"Duskpaw! I need you on a hunting patrol."

Duskpaw whipped around, eyes widening to see her mentor, Pebblefur gesturing to her. She shot her brother and Rainpaw a murderous glare, before storming off.

Rainpaw turned to Sandpaw, who was watching his sister with an amused look.

""You didn't need to help me." Rainpaw muttered. Sandpaw cocked his head.

"Who says I'm helping? Maybe I just want to splash cats in the face."

He flicked more water at Rainpaw, catching her right in the muzzle. Rainpaw coughed, shaking to try to get the water off her.

"You're really something, you know that, Sandpaw?" Rainpaw moved to pick up the remainder of the old moss.

"I have to get new bedding for the elders."

Sandpaw stepped in front of her.

"Let me get it for you. It's the least I can do after ruining your pelt."

"Don't you have duties to attend to?" Rainpaw asked.

Sandpaw shook his head. "Nope. Morningbreeze fell out of a tree chasing a squirrel, and she twisted her leg. Sweetflower won't let her leave for two days, so I have to do chores."

Rainpaw sighed. "Well, you know the saying. Misery loves company."

Sandpaw bristled. "Take that back! There shall be no misery while I am around!"

Rainpaw giggled. "Oh really? Well, pray tell me how clearing smelly bedding, patching the thorn barrier, fetching fresh kill, or running errands for Sweetflower can be anything but boring?"

Sandpaw narrowed his eyes. "Nothing is boring if you know how to do things the fun way."

* * *

**Did you guys like it? R&R, follow, fav, shower airhead authoress with affection. Haha jk! I hope you liked, and tune in next time to see what Sandpaw's idea of fun is!**


	23. Chapter 21

**_Chapter Twenty-One_**

**Hey! Well, this is better than a week, right? Six days? Heheh, nope, not excusable. I know I need to update more, but school is really annoying, and I'm not so good at time management. I hope you guys liked the Warrior Cat Name Generator I created. Hey, btw, I PASSED 50 REVIEWS! I never thought that would happen! Thank you sooo much to everyone who has supported me with beautiful comments! You all rock the world's socks! And since my current number is passed 60, and my review total is 62, I'll give a shout-out to the 60th reviewer instead. The 60th reviewer is... ****_EradrinSkyleaf! _****You had the 60th review, so you get a cookie! (::) Not to mention you're one of my most frequent and really nice commenters, so thanks so so much! :)****Ok, no more talk. Let's see what Sandpaw is going to do!**

* * *

"Follow my lead." Sandpaw mewed confidently. Rainpaw followed her friend suspiciously, watching as he gathered fresh moss. Beckoning Rainpaw to do the same, Sandpaw trotted back into the elders' den; Rainpaw right behind him.

"Hello!" Sandpaw purred cheerfully. "I've got some nice, soft, dry moss to give you guys nests you could sleep a moon in!"

"Yeah, yeah." Hollyfrost muttered. "Less mouth flapping and more arranging the bedding."

Sandpaw dipped his head obediently, leaning down to fix the moss in the old cream and brown she-cat's nest. Rainpaw did the same, carefully arranging the material for Dawnblaze, all the while puzzling at what Sandpaw was up to.

Once the two apprentices were finished, Sandpaw spoke again.

"We're done with your nests; I hope you like them. If you don't need anything else, Rainpaw and I are going to go check on if Bluefire and her kits need something done. Is that alright?"

The elders grunted their consent, already settling down in their nests. Sandpaw walked out, Rainpaw scurrying after him.

"I already took care of the nursery!" she whispered confusedly.

Sandpaw flicked his ear.

"I know." he murmured, heading towards the back of the elders' den, gesturing to Rainpaw with his tail. "Come on."

Rainpaw trailed after him, crouching down beside him right behind the den. Exasperated, Rainpaw hissed fiercely in Sandpaw's ear.

"For the love of StarClan, what exactly are we-"

"Shhh." Sandpaw slapped his ginger tail across Rainpaw's mouth. "I told you we were going to have fun, right?"

Rainpaw nodded warily, not catching on to what he was saying. Sandpaw's blue eyes glittered with mischief.

"What better way to do that then good old annoying everyone out of their minds?"

Rainpaw narrowed her eyes.

"What exactly do you have in mind?"

Sandpaw smirked.

"This."

Quick as lightning, Sandpaw got flat on his belly, stretched one paw under the elders' den, and then just as quickly slid it back out. A disgruntled snort immediately followed from inside.

"Huh? What the-Dawnblaze, what are you, a kit?"

"Flamepelt, what are you talking about?"

"Why did you pull my tail?"

"I never-hey!"

Sandpaw going and pulling her tail too cut Dawnblaze short.

"Someone just did it to me! Whitewhisker, was that you?"

"Don't you drag me into your little squabble!" Whitewhisker snapped.

"Will all of you stop chattering like squirrels and let me sleep?" Hollyfrost complained.

Rainpaw listened in horror, turning on Sandpaw who was rolling on the ground, eyes squeezed in silent laughter.

"Mousebrain!" Rainpaw spat. "We'll be apprentices forever if they catch us!"

Sandpaw looked up at her playfully. "Aw, lighten up, Rainpaw! You have to admit, this is fun."

As Rainpaw paused, uncertain, Sandpaw pressed.

"You know you want to."

Rainpaw gave in with a sigh, knowing she was going to regret this. Sandpaw brightened.

"Yes! Now you try. Just reach under, find a tail, and yank!"

As Rainpaw got up, something caught her eye.

"Hold on." Rainpaw meowed. "I have an idea."

Feeling Sandpaw's puzzled gaze on her, Rainpaw moved over to where she saw the long stick. Grasping it in her teeth, she turned back toward the den. Summoning up her miniscule courage, she poked the stick under, feeling it connect, and a loud yowl sounded immediately after.

"Hey! Something just _poked _me!" Rainpaw realized with a start the yowl was Whitewhisker's. She snickered.

_Serves you right for being mean to me!_

Rainpaw and Sandpaw tormented the elders for a while after that, stopping after Sandpaw accidentally brushed against the side of the den, causing snow from the top to splatter through the branches, right onto the heads of the old cats.

Rainpaw and Sandpaw shared a terrified look, before darting off to the other side of the camp before the elders could storm outside to catch them. Rainpaw was panting.

"That was crazy!" she wheezed, gasping for air.

"I know!" Sandpaw exclaimed. "Want to do something crazier?"

* * *

After Sandpaw explained the new plan, Rainpaw stared at him in disbelief.

"You want to do _what?_"

"_Pretend. _Pretend the clan got poisoned, to be exact."

Rainpaw couldn't believe her ears. "That could cause a cat to actually choke! And how do you _fake poison _an entire clan?"

"Simple. Stuff the fresh kill pile full of poison-lookalikes and when anyone goes for a bite, 'OH MY STARCLAN, I'M GOING TO DIE! HELP ME!'" Sandpaw laughed. Rainpaw groaned.

"I don't even want to know how you come up with these ideas. How are we going to find something that looks like deathberries? They're pretty one-of-a-kind."

Sandpaw shook his head.

"I'm talking about something a bit more common, but still very recognizable. You know how the mentors have to teach us which plants are poisonous?"

"Yeah. So what?"

"So, Morningbreeze actually trained as a medicine cat for a bit before deciding to be a warrior instead. She insists I know a lot of very boring facts about plants, just in case. Luckily, she mentioned something very interesting about water hemlock."

Rainpaw frowned. "Isn't water hemlock just as poisonous as deathberries?" Sandpaw nodded.

"Exactly. Everyone in the clan knows that. But what most don't know is that it's nearly identical to an almost completely harmless plant: the elderberry."

Rainpaw nodded, knowing now where her friend was going with this.

"So we stuff the fresh-kill pile full of elderberries, and cats will freak out?"

"Just the leaves. The stem is just as poisonous."

Rainpaw started to feel uncertain again. "Are you really sure about this?" she fretted. Sandpaw rested his paw lightly on Rainpaw's shoulder, his blue eyes glittering.

"Of course. You just need to trust me. Now, here's how we're going to do this."

* * *

**Hoooo boy, Sandpaw, you're nuts! Ok I did my research best I could on water hemlock and elderberries, but will someone please correct me if I made any mistakes on the facts? Pretty please? So guys, I will try try TRY to give you another chappie before the weekend ends, but I can't make any promises. Okay, question time. Should I be one of those authors who answers the reviews in the A/N? I can do that if you guys want, or have any questions. Make sure to let me know. And btw, the ****_100th_**** reviewer might get TEN cookies. ;) Okay, enough boring A/Ns from boring authoress. Candy is out. PEACE!**


	24. Chapter 22

**_Chapter Twenty-Two_**

**OH. MY. GOSH. CANDY THE PROCRASTINATOR HAS SPENT VALUABLE TIME THAT SHOULD HAVE BEEN DEVOTED TO COMPLETING MATH HOMEWORK AND STUDYING FOR THREE TESTS TO INSTEAD UPDATE BLOOD RAIN! WOW! Haha, seriously, I can't believe I was able to update again this weekend! Anyway, I know the last two chapters seem kinda fluffy, but I promise this prank will contribute to the storyline, as you will find out at the end of the chapter. Get reading!**

* * *

"So, how are we going to get these elderberry leaves?" Rainpaw questioned.

"Simple." Sandpaw replied. "There's an elderberry bush right outside the camp. It's the only bush near the drinking pool."

"Out of camp? We're apprentices!" Rainpaw hissed. "We can't leave camp without a warrior, even if I wasn't in trouble."

Sandpaw cocked his head. "You're right." he mused. "And we can't exactly just inconspicuously stroll out the main entrance…" Suddenly his blue eyes lit up. "I got it!" he exclaimed. "We just have to pretend to go to the dirtplace, and we can escape through there."

Rainpaw wrinkled her nose. "The dirtplace? Gross!"

Sandpaw smirked. "Fear not, timid Rainpaw. I know how you she-cats are always too scared to get your paws dirty. _I'll _do it."

Rainpaw bristled indignantly. "Not true!"

"Do it then." Sandpaw challenged.

"I will." Rainpaw sniffed.

A thought suddenly appeared in Rainpaw's head.

"Wait." she mewed. "How are we going to get the leaves into the pile without everyone seeing us?"

Sandpaw flashed Rainpaw his signature look of a troublemaker.

"Leave that to me."

* * *

Rainpaw forced herself to walk as casually over toward the dirtplace entrance. Just as she was nearing the entrance, she crossed paths with Badgerheart.

_Mousedung!_

"Hello, Badgerheart." Rainpaw meowed pleasantly.

"Hi, Rainpaw." the young warrior replied, pausing to look at her funny. "Wait, aren't you not supposed to leave camp?"

Rainpaw gave an exasperated snort.

"For the love of StarClan, can't a cat go to the dirtplace without the entire clan knowing? Am I not allowed to even relieve myself?"

Badgerheart's eyes widened, and he ducked his head in embarrassment.

"Erm-of course!" he stammered awkwardly. "Don't-don't let me get in your way."

The black and white tom shuffled away quickly, allowing Rainpaw to slip inside the dirtplace, screwing up her nose at the smell. Stopping, she took a deep breath.

_Well, here goes nothing!_

She scooted through the bushes around, and began to quietly creep toward the small pool right outside camp. Occasionally, a small noise would startle her, causing her heart to jump into her throat, only to discover it was nothing but dry leaves blown by the wind.

Once the pool came into sight, Rainpaw searched out the bush right beside the water, wincing at its similarity to water hemlock. Rainpaw darted toward the bush, nipping off as many leaves as possible, putting them down, and grabbing more. She was very careful not to bite the stems, remembering Sandpaw's words on how they were poisonous too.

Upon finishing, Rainpaw picked a wad up in her jaws, tucking the rest under her chin as she would a piece of moss for bedding. Glancing around warily, Rainpaw scurried back to the bushes surrounding the dirtplace, and pushed through the branches.

She left her leaves by the entrance, and poked her head out, scanning the camp for Sandpaw.

He was busy patching up the nursery walls, every once in a while casting a furtive glance in the direction of the dirtplace.

When Rainpaw's green eyes met Sandpaw's blue, she signaled him with a slight nod. He nodded back, and started to walk toward the camp wall.

Rainpaw ducked back inside the dirtplace, and picked up the leaves, just as a terrified wail split the air.

"Great StarClan! Somebody, help! Help!"

Alarmed voices answered, and Rainpaw heard the thunder of pawsteps pound toward Sandpaw's cry.

Peeping out to see if the coast was clear, Rainpaw dashed over to the fresh-kill pile, and began stuffing leaves inside the creatures' mouths. Rainpaw paused for a moment in satisfaction at the amount of prey the clan had caught.

_Not bad for almost leaf-bare!_

Once finished, Rainpaw ran away from the pile toward where the entire clan was now gathered behind the nursery. Sandpaw stood with a frantic look on his face, orange pelt bushed completely up as he babbled frantically to Stormstar.

"I-I-I saw it! It was right there! It was a snake, and it tried to kill me!"

Stormstar's eyes widened.

"A snake?"

"Yes! An adder! It was about to bite me when I panicked and yowled. I must have made enough noise to scare it off." Sandpaw gasped, shooting a quick look at Rainpaw, who nodded. "I think it left." he finished.

Stormstar dismissed the rest of the clan, save a few senior warriors who were going to check for any signs of snakes left.

By now, the patrols had come in, and everyone was heading toward the fresh kill pile. Rainpaw looked in amusement as her sister, who had come in from climbing practice, cornered Sandpaw, and began talking his ear off.

Rainpaw was snickering at her friend's pained look, when a voice sounded softly behind her.

"Do you want to share? I can't eat both of these."

Rainpaw turned to see Owlpaw, two frogs in his jaws, his pale green eyes questioning. Rainpaw nodded mutely, and Owlpaw settled next to her. Rainpaw murmured her thanks, and the two sat, eating in an uncomfortable silence. Eventually Owlpaw spoke.

"Rainpaw." he began. "Can I apologize?"

Rainpaw looked up in surprise as he continued. "What I said the other day, well, that wasn't right. I know you love Lilypaw, and I shouldn't have insulted her like that. I don't like what she did, or that you went along with it, but I don't like not talking to you more. Can we stop fighting?"

Rainpaw felt something warm and fuzzy grow inside her. "I would like that very much." she answered. "I forgive you, Owlpaw. Everyone deserves forgiveness, and Lilypaw is no different. I would do anything for the cats I care about."

Owlpaw gave a purr of relief, and they settled more comfortably. Rainpaw thought she heard him mutter. _"She doesn't deserve you." _But, before Rainpaw could say anything, Owlpaw began to cough and splutter. Rainpaw jumped to her paws in alarm.

"What's wrong?" she shrieked.

"The frog! It's stuffed with water hemlock! Get Sweetflower!"

_Oh, right. The prank! Well, better play along._

Rainpaw nodded, maintaining a concerned look, and racing towards the medicine den. She noticed other clanmates start to freak out, hacking up their food, spitting frantically, running around in a panic. Rainpaw had to admit, it did look pretty funny.

"Everyone, calm down!"

Sweetflower's voice sounded across the clearing. Everyone stopped short, all eyes turning the small ginger and white she cat. Sweetflower had a piece of elderberry leaf snagged to her claw and raised to show the crowd.

"Is this what you all found in your fresh-kill?"

Stormstar nodded. "It is. Please, Sweetflower, half the clan ate it. What do we do?"

"Prepare for the worst." Sweetflower spoke gravely. "I assure you, the plant you ate is _not _water hemlock. It is elderberry, which is nearly identical. It is also a sign from StarClan."

The crowd buzzed with talk, and Rainpaw stared directly at Sandpaw, who was looking at her confusedly.

_Sign from StarClan? _He mouthed to her.

"But why, may you ask, would StarClan scare us with putting poison lookalikes in our food?" Sweetflower's voice rang out with authority. "Because, my dear clanmates, they are trying to warn us. They are trying to say: _Something is not what it seems. It will come from where you least expect it._"

As the medicine cat's words rang in her ears, Rainpaw felt the ground start to spin beneath her.

Did StarClan use her to send a message? And more importantly, what kind of things were in store?

* * *

**You guys are lucky, you got a loooooonger chapter this time! So, how did you like it? Did I completely botch the omen? (I suck at writing omens and prophecies) What do you think the sign (if it is one) means, and is it connected to Rainpaw's bloody dreams? So many questions! So, yeah, R&R, and Anova? If you're still reading this story, you should know that NEXT CHAPTER YOUR OC WILL APPEAR! YAY! I'm super sorry for not adding her sooner, but I had a really good idea of where she was going to go. To everyone, two things. 1. Expect the next update somewhere around next weekend, school is busy for me ;p and 2. I'm trying to get to 70 reviews before a friend on this site reaches a certain number on their story, so LETS BEAT THEM! Kk, extra long A/N over now. Laterzzzzzzzzzzzz.**


	25. Chapter 23

**_Chapter Twenty-Three_**

**Hey people! I updated again, yay! Thank you SO much for all the reviews last time, we beat my friend, haha! She's on Deviantart, but she doesn't want me saying who she is. Sienablaze88, of course you are! Well, Anova, I know I said I'd put your OC in this time, but the chapter got too big, so I had to cut it in half. Next chapter, I PROMISE. So, enjoy, everyone!**

* * *

"Rainpaw, hurry up! They'll leave without us!"

Owlpaw's annoyed voice snapped Rainpaw out of her thoughts. She shot her friend an irritable look, before returning to grooming herself.

"I am not going to my first Gathering without looking my absolute best." she muttered, craning her neck to rasp her tongue over a patchy area of silver fur.

Owlpaw snorted, rolling his eyes.

"She-cats!"

"What's that supposed to mean?" Duskpaw's meow sounded behind them. The black she-cat padded over to them, flicking her brother playfully on the ear with her tail, and even giving Rainpaw a curt nod.

"Are you saying you're a she-cat too, Owlpaw? This is probably the first time you've cleaned your pelt since, what, when we became apprentices?"

As Owlpaw opened his mouth to retort, Duskpaw narrowed her eyes.

"You _must_ be excited if you actually bothered to look presentable. Looking to meet some pretty she-cats at the Gathering, are we?"

Rainpaw burst out laughing at Owlpaw's wide-eyed, indignant expression. He spluttered, trying to come up with something to use against Duskpaw, but his sister simply stuffed her tail in his mouth, fake sympathy on her face.

"Just keep your muzzle shut, dear. No need to embarrass yourself more." She tweaked him on the nose, flouncing off to where Lilypaw and Sandpaw were.

Rainpaw wasn't surprised at Duskpaw's good mood. After a long moon of hard work, harrowed by leaf-bare's rapid approach, Stormstar had decided that all of the younger apprentices would be allowed to go to the Gathering. Duskpaw had been waiting even longer than Rainpaw for her first trip, although Rainpaw felt that nobody could be more excited than she was.

"It's time to go!"

At Amberleaf's yowl, Rainpaw sprang to her paws, turning to give her pelt one more quick onceover, before turning to Owlpaw, who was still sulking over Duskpaw's remark. Rainpaw nudged her friend lightly.

"Come on, you. We'll fix your wounded pride later."

Owlpaw gave a loud huff, stalking after the crowd of cats who were leaving.

* * *

Rainpaw gave a shocked gasp, pausing at the end of the line. The clan had to walk through RiverClan territory to get to the Gathering island, and Rainpaw couldn't believe what she was seeing.

The moon was bright and a pale orange up in the cool night sky. It cast a soft light down on the island below. Lithe and slender feline silhouettes slunk elegantly across a giant overturned tree that stretched from the shoreline to the island, their figures completely black except for the glittering of the eyes, and the backs of their pelts touched silvery-gold under the light of the moon.

A soft, frigid breeze whispered in the air, singing across the lake and causing its waves to lap softly at the shore. The lake was a rippling reflection of the sky itself, the countless stars of StarClan warriors shining down and making it shine almost brighter than the actual stars. Rainpaw stood entranced, trying to take in the magic of the Gathering night. She could already smell more new cat scents than she ever thought she'd smell in a lifetime.

A tail rested lightly across her shoulder, and she turned to see the glowing amber eyes of her father staring kindly back at her.

"Nervous?" Mudstripe asked. Rainpaw gave a half shrug.

"Sort of." she answered. She turned her gaze back to the fallen tree, where Stormstar had just climbed onto and started padding confidently across. Sweetflower followed after him, stepping lightly across the slick wood.

"I still can't believe I finally get to go." Rainpaw confessed.

Mudstripe purred, and he licked her cheek softly. "You've earned it." he whispered into her ear. "I am so, so proud of you."

Happiness fluttered in Rainpaw's chest, and she gave her father an affectionate nuzzle, before turning away.

"I'm going to go find the other apprentices, alright?"

Mudstripe's expression changed to one of mock hurt.

"What?" he teased. "Is your boring old father just going to embarrass you in front of your cool friends?"

Rainpaw giggled, moving to find her friends.

"Over here, Rainpaw!" Sandpaw called, gesturing with his tail. Lilypaw, who was standing next to him, gave a huff of annoyance, but Sandpaw ignored her.

As they approached the bridge, Sandpaw let out a whoop of excitement, barging through the throng of ShadowClan cats waiting to cross, ignoring Morningbreeze's irritated hiss. He scurried nimbly across the tree trunk, taking a giant leap off the side onto the island shore. As Rainpaw stepped up to the trunk, she froze, an icy trickle of fear moving down her body, freezing her paws to the ground.

All of a sudden, she was back in the icy lake, sinking toward the bottom, the watery image of the sunlight steadily growing darker. This time, there wouldn't be Mapleflight around to save her. The only cats around were ShadowClan, and they couldn't swim any better than Rainpaw could. Her heart started to race, and her breathing seemed to catch in her throat.

"Come _on_, Rainpaw, you're blocking the whole line!" Lilypaw snapped from behind Rainpaw. At the sound of her sister's voice, Rainpaw jumped, and dug her claws into the tree trunk tighter.

"I-I can't!" she stammered, staring at the liquid blackness of the water. Lilypaw gave a sigh of exasperation.

"Are you still upset about falling into the lake? Come on, we all know you're a klutz, but not even you would be mousebrained enough to do it twice." her sister paused, snickering. "Although, with your clumsiness, I wouldn't be surprised."

Rainpaw gulped, trying to ignore her sister's voice. When Rainpaw still didn't move, Lilypaw gave her a shove.

"Move it!"

Rainpaw gave a yelp, digging her claws in as tight as she could, her tail waving wildly for balance. As she finally regained her balance, she stood stuck, panting hard.

"For StarClan's sake, Lilypaw, you almost made her fall in again! What's the matter with you?" Owlpaw's growl sounded from behind her.

As Lilypaw snapped back, Rainpaw heard a cat meow from behind.

"What's going on up there? Is everything alright?" All the voices were making her dizzy, and the images in front of her danced before her eyes.

"Do you need help?"

Sandpaw's voice snapped Rainpaw back to attention. The ginger tabby was balancing in front of her, blinking questioningly. He must have walked back across. Rainpaw shook her head rapidly, but Owlpaw answered.

"Great idea, Sandpaw! We can escort Rainpaw across the bridge!"

Rainpaw hissed. "I don't need escorting!"

Owlpaw rolled his eyes.

"Fine. How about I walk behind you, and Sandpaw in front."

"Yeah." Sandpaw nodded. "Just focus on the back of my head, and Owlpaw will be right behind you to catch you if you fall."

Rainpaw agreed shakily, trying to muster up any bravery she happened to have left. Suddenly, an idea popped into her head.

"Hey!" she mewed. "What if I close my eyes? I can follow Sandpaw's scent."

Sandpaw looked at her oddly. "If you want."

Rainpaw took a deep breath. "I do. Let's go."

She closed her eyes, letting the blackness envelop her. She heard Sandpaw's pawsteps start walking across, and Rainpaw began to follow, focusing intently on following the scent trail.

Her paws moved slowly across the wood, step by step. She managed to place her pawsteps exactly where Sandpaw's had been before hers. She got into a rhythm, using her other senses to guide her. She let out a small gasp as all of a sudden, the tree branch disappeared beneath her, and she landed with a thud onto the pebbly shore.

"I did it!" Rainpaw squealed like a kit, opening her eyes. Sandpaw was in front of her, and Rainpaw saw Owlpaw jumping off the tree right behind them.

"Thank you!" she exclaimed, surprising Sandpaw by running up and licking his ear. "You too!" she added, doing the same to Owlpaw, who's eyes widened, and he stared at the ground embarrassedly.

"No problem." he mumbled.

"Well you two. Now that you've escorted Rainpaw the kit across the big scary tree, let's go explore!" Rainpaw dashed off, barely bothering to stop and motion with her tail for her friends to follow.

* * *

**So everybody, tune in next time to see the rest of the Gathering! What did you think of it? I know I already asked this, but who's your favorite character from the story so far? Like I said before, I like Lilypaw! ;p And who's your fav character from the actual series? Mine is Ivypool! She ROCKS! But yeah, Anova, your character will appear next time and Guest, yours will too. OMG ANYONE WHO IS A FAN OF THE HEROES OF OLYMPUS BOOKS, THE LAST BOOK IS OUT ON OCTOBER 7TH I AM SOOOOO SO SO EXCITED! I swear, if they kill off... okay, enough of the authoress ranting, I'm gonna go do something of little importance. See ya!**


	26. Chapter 24

**_Chapter Twenty-Four_**

**AAAAAGGGGGHHHH! WHY HAS THIS STORY APPEARED AGAIN AFTER THREEEEEEE WEEKS UNDER A NEW AUTHOR'S NAME? Ok, relax people, I'm still the same author, I just changed my name to that of my OC, Shira. She's an owl. And she's magic. I'm sorry she can never be in my warriors fanfics, you won't be able to meet her. I'm so sorry it took me so long to update again, but school and homework have been insane. So I rewarded everyone with a loooooong chappie! Yay! Thank you for all the reviews, you all ROCK! So, I'm going to have to divide the gathering into three parts cuz this got too long, AGAIN -_- And one of the first people to send in an OC, lovely reviewer Anova, is FINALLY going to see their OC here! Anova, I had to change the age, but other than that, I hope you like her! Guest who sent me Treepool, your OC will appear next chapter! Ok, no more A/N, let's get on with the story!**

* * *

"Watch it!"

Rainpaw stumbled back blinking. She had already lost Owlpaw and Sandpaw, and had been wandering around lost until she had felt a shove and bumped into another furry body. She shook her head, mewing an apology to whomever it was the crowd had just jostled her into. Standing in front of her was a silver tabby she-cat who was glaring at her through narrowed blue eyes.

The cat gave a disdainful sniff, flicking her ear irritably. "ShadowClan. Figures."

Rainpaw bristled. "Hey! This is my first gathering; I'm not going around _trying _to bump into cats!"

The she-cat rolled her eyes. "Whatever." As the she-cat turned to pad away, Rainpaw felt guilt gnawing at her. She scampered after the cat.

"Wait!"

The cat turned around, and annoyed look on her face. Rainpaw ignored it, and pushed on.

"I really am sorry for crashing into you earlier." Rainpaw dipped her head respectfully. "I'm Rainpaw. What's your name?"

The she-cat stared at her for a moment, before curtly replying, "Silverpaw."

"Oh, that's nice." Rainpaw spoke again, trying not to be intimidated by Silverpaw's icy look. "Wow, I've never met a…a-a- WindClan cat before." she finished awkwardly, suddenly noticing the she-cat's scent of peat and rabbits. Silverpaw snorted.

"Of course you haven't! We live on the opposite side of lake, remember? We won't get a chance to claw each other on border patrols."

"Silly me, I forgot that we can't talk to cats from other clans without feeling the need to demonstrate how sharp our claws are!" Rainpaw joked, trying to lighten the situation. To her surprise, Silverpaw's expression softened, and the WindClan cat gave a _mrrow_ of laughter.

"You sure are right about that!" she purred. "Everyone's all like, 'Hello, nice to meet you. Oh my goodness, you want to take a chunk of my flesh off too? That's exactly what I wanted to do to you! What a coincidence!'"

Rainpaw giggled, happy she was engaging in a conversation. "Very true. So, how long have you been an apprentice?"

"Only for a few moons." Silverpaw replied. "But my mentor, Applefall, is expecting kits, so now I have to temporarily share a mentor with _Moonpaw_. She's as dumb as a log, and super annoying too!"

Rainpaw wrinkled her nose in sympathy. "Too bad. I-"

"Rainpaw!"

Rainpaw turned at the sound of her sister's voice. Lilypaw was stalking toward them, tail twitching in annoyance.

To Rainpaw's surprise, her sister walked right up to Silverpaw and meowed. "There you are, frogbrain! I've been looking all over for-"

Lilypaw stopped as Silverpaw turned to face her, noticing she had picked the wrong silver cat. "Ugh, never mind. You're just some _WindClan _cat." she curled her lip. Silverpaw, who hadn't taken kindly to being called a frogbrain, now flattened her ears.

"What's that supposed to mean?" she growled.

Lilypaw, who had already turned to Rainpaw, looked back through glittering golden slits.

"Did you say something, fleapelt?"

Silverpaw spat at Lilypaw, but she ignored her and now spoke to her littermate.

"Seriously, Rainpaw, some cats can be so _rude_." She spoke loudly in Silverpaw's direction.

"That's enough, Lilypaw." Rainpaw hissed. Lilypaw gave an irritated huff.

"_Fine. _But seriously, I don't get why everyone's so worried about ThunderClan. Have you seen Robinstar? She's ancient! And RiverClan isn't much better. I met that Lionpaw again, and he's just as much a furball. I swatted him in the face."

"Lilypaw!" Rainpaw gasped, hearing Silverpaw's sound of disgust. "We can't fight at Gatherings!"

Lilypaw scoffed. "Please. I hardly had my claws out. And he swatted me back!"

The white she-cat sniffed ruefully at a small scratch on her shoulder.

"Nevertheless," Rainpaw snapped angrily. "You could have gotten in trouble!"

"Stop with all the whining of yours! No wonder you were never brought to the gathering before when all you can do is act like a mousehearted little kit!" Lilypaw exploded, lashing her tail. She spun around and marched off, leaving Rainpaw fuming. She shot an apologetic glance at Silverpaw, who had seen the whole thing.

"Siblings!" Rainpaw gave a sigh of exasperation. "I'm super sorry about Lilypaw; she's not the easiest cat to get along with."

Silverpaw flicked her ear nonchalantly. "It's no big deal. There are featherbrains in every clan. At least you have a sister."

Rainpaw cocked her head in confusion as Silverpaw continued.

"I don't have any family." The tabby stared downcast at the ground.

Rainpaw shifted her weight uncomfortably, unsure of how to respond. Silverpaw jumped up, trying to put a happier look on her face.

"Never mind that." she mewed brightly. "How about I show you some of the other apprentices?"

Rainpaw perked up. "Okay!"

The silver she-cat walked into the crowd, and Rainpaw scampered after her. For a moment, Rainpaw was sure she had lost Silverpaw, until she spotted the WindClan apprentice signaling with her tail near a bush. As Rainpaw came closer, she saw a clump of cats who looked about her age.

Owlpaw and Icepaw were there along with a small cream-furred she-cat, a tortoiseshell and white she cat, a blue-grey tom, a bright ginger tom, a grey and white she-cat, and a light brown tabby tom Rainpaw recognized as Lionpaw. Owlpaw blinked in greeting and scooted over to make room. Rainpaw settled next to him, Silverpaw beside her.

The blue-grey tom was speaking now.

"So I said, 'No way will that fox take one of ThunderClan's rabbits!' so I leaped down from the tree right onto the filthy mange-pelt's back! I scared it so bad that it's probably still running!"

The cream she-cat gasped. "You're so brave!"

The tom puffed up his chest. "I know."

The tortoiseshell rolled her eyes. "Give it a rest, Swiftpaw!"

She gave the others a knowing look. "Swiftpaw was so scared, he _fell _out of the tree right as backup arrived, and the fox ran away because it was outnumbered."

Swiftpaw hissed. "Mosspaw, shut up!"

"Only when you stop exaggerating!" Mosspaw countered.

All the apprentices laughed. The cream she-cat spoke again.

"_I _believe you, Swiftpaw."

Silverpaw snorted. "Of course you do, Moonpaw. You also believed that medicine cats curse regular cats for fun, and you avoided Flamestripe for a moon."

Moonpaw's green eyes widened. "There's a conspiracy going on, I know it! When the twolegs ally with the Dark Forest to take down the clans, don't go crying to me!"

Rainpaw surprised herself by speaking up.

"Well in ShadowClan, we don't have any conspiracies. It's a pity, we need something to make life more interesting."

Everyone turned to look at Rainpaw. Lionpaw's eyes narrowed.

"Hello!" the grey and white she-cat meowed pleasantly. Rainpaw noticed she smelled of RiverClan.

"I'm Pebblepaw of RiverClan!" the she-cat introduced herself. "This is my clanmate Lionpaw, and those are Moonpaw of WindClan, and Swiftpaw, Emberpaw, and Mosspaw of ThunderClan. I'm guessing you've already met Silverpaw."

Moonpaw meowed a hello, but the three ThunderClan apprentices simply gave small nods, eying the new ShadowClan cat suspiciously. The one called Emberpaw muttered, "We can introduce ourselves, Pebblepaw."

Lionpaw cleared his throat "I've actually met her before too. It's Rainpaw, right?"

"Y-yes." Rainpaw stammered. A smirk spread across Lionpaw's face.

"Still feeling cold? You looked like a drowned rat after our patrol saved you when you fell in the lake. I have to admit, you didn't deserve it. It should have been your sister, the way she ran at us."

Rainpaw stared at her paws, mortified. Owlpaw pressed comfortingly against Rainpaw, when Icepaw commented.

"Wait, _Lilypaw _started a fight?"

Rainpaw froze. Icepaw wasn't supposed to know that! Why couldn't stupid Lionpaw keep his muzzle shut?

Lionpaw was about to answer her when a yowl split the air.

"Let the Gathering begin!"

* * *

**Sooooooo, how was Silverpaw, Anova? I hope I made her right. Lets try to get 10 more reviews for this chapter, I want to get to 100! And I may be coming out with my first oneshot/twoshot soon, Idk if I'll publish it. To anyone who has seen my Warriors Name Generator game, I know there's tons of others, but should I make another chapter? So tune in next time, I promise the next update will be in less than 3 weeks! Probably... Look stay with me guys, the last chapters have been fillers, but we're going to get some excitement coming soon! See ya!**

**Shira: Lilypaw, can you come here please?**

***Lilypaw's cage pops out of nowhere, Lilypaw is eating a frog.***

**Shira: Wait, don't you hate frogs?**

**Lilypaw: So, I stole this from Rainpaw. Anything that annoys her is awesome for me!**

**Shira: (facewings) Sigh. Anyway, I heard you attacked a reviewer with your hose last time...**

**Lilypaw: He insulted me!**

**Shira: Lilypaw! We do not hurt innocent reviewers at all, unless they are flamers. We also do not make assumptions about one's gender if we do not know it.**

**Lilypaw: Like I care. If I want to call a reviewer a guy, I can. And stop talking like that, you sound like Rainpaw!**

**Shira: Well, I do like you better.**

**Rainpaw: Hey!**

**Shira: (waves her wing) Random incantation!**

***Rainpaw turns into a toothpick***

**Lilypaw: Hahaha! Can you burn her to a crisp now?**

**Shira: Nope, sorry. She's the main character, so I'd better turn her back...**


End file.
